ESA Connectivity and Secure Communications

• ESA-supported test leads to better in-flight connectivity

  Better in-flight streaming and video-calling might just become more accessible thanks to a project supported by the European Space Agency (ESA). Building upon the success of an experiment for a new type of antenna terminal together with ESA, Viasat – a global leader in satellite communications – now plans to commercialise its new in-flight connectivity solution called Viasat Amara.

• Connecting science from sea to space

  Doing science at sea is no easy endeavour. Add racing across oceans and heading to a UN conference , and the complexity multiplies. This summer, thanks to satellite connectivity from Eutelsat’s low Earth orbit constellation, OneWeb and the support from the European Space Agency (ESA), and the UK Space Agency, the Kaïros’ We Explore catamaran sailed smarter, safer, and more sustainably on its journey to the UN Ocean Conference in Nice. 

• Advancing Europe’s quantum secure communications from space

  The European Space Agency (ESA) has signed a €50 million contract with aerospace company Thales Alenia Space to begin the preliminary design phase of the Security And cryptoGrAphic (SAGA) mission. This agreement enables SAGA to continue to its preliminary design review, marking a relevant step towards establishing secure, space-based communications using quantum technologies.

• ESA and Honeywell set for quantum data protection from space

  The European Space Agency (ESA) and Honeywell move to the next phase of a project that will provide satellite-based quantum key distribution. The project, called QKDSat, will enable protection of critical infrastructures, such as power plants, water management systems, hospitals and banks from cyberattacks.

• Live demonstration shows reliable satellite-5G connectivity on the move

  Making video calls while travelling – or when faced with an unstable internet connection – just got easier, thanks to a technology that allows devices to seamlessly bond satellite and ground connections. The European Space Agency (ESA) recently partnered with British advanced networking technology company UniVirtua to conduct a live demonstration of the dashAlpha platform, which could be used to uninterruptedly connect vehicles essential to disaster relief as well as self-driving cars.