Signature Eagle-1 – new, secure satellite communications mission.

IAC 2022, Thursday 22 September, Paris.
Participants: Josef Aschbacher, ESA Director General; Elodie Viau, ESA Director of Telecommunications and Integrated Applications; Steve Collar, SES CEO; Gilles Lequeux, EC DEFIS; Walther Pelzer, DG of German Space Agency; Marc Serres, CEO of Luxembourg Space Agency; Giorgio Saccoccia, President ASI.

Cyberattacks and geopolitics threaten today’s increasingly digital world, leading to the disruption of essential supplies such as power and water. ESA, the European Commission and space companies in Europe are teaming up to work towards a highly secure, satellite-enabled connectivity system for the EU – based on the unbreakable laws of physics.

The Eagle-1 satellite will be the first space-based quantum key distribution system in Europe to be developed in this partnership, under a contract just agreed between ESA and SES headquartered in Luxembourg, with support from the European Commission. SES is leading a consortium of more than 20 European companies.

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