ESA Connectivity and Secure Communications

  • Space-connected ambulances improve patient care

    Satellites are helping to improve at-home patient care for those living in remote areas of the UK. ESA and the UK Space Agency (UKSA) are working with the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) to trial the Digital Ambulance of the Future project, which enables paramedics to stay connected to vital patient data, support and resources as they serve people in remote areas. The ultimate aim is to improve patient care and reduce unnecessary hospital admissions.

  • Supporting rapid disaster response through space

    ESA has launched a new partnership with industry through a project called Smart-Connect. The project aims to mitigate the challenges presented when traditional communication channels are disrupted during times of crisis, through facilitating the efficient and timely exchange of secure information between first responders and disaster control centres.

  • Space-enabled connectivity steers self-driving cars

    In one of the longest-running trials of a self-driving vehicle, collecting data over 13 000 km of autonomous travel, Darwin Innovation Group has been testing a novel driverless shuttle bus at Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, in Oxford, UK; home to ESA’s European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications (ECSAT). The technology is funded under the ESA 5G/6G Programme with the support of the UK Space Agency.

  • Satellite communications for safer and greener aviation

    The first commercial flights of a programme that uses Iris satellite technology to help modernise air traffic management and reduce carbon emissions have taken place.

  • Demonstrating connectivity’s latest technologies

    A satellite has been launched that will demonstrate the latest technologies for connectivity and for Earth observation. The ALISIO-1 satellite was developed under an ESA Pioneer Partnership Project with satellite manufacturer and operator Open Cosmos, based at Harwell in the UK.