Core Competitiveness

ESA-supported advanced photonics manufacturing project for next-generation satellite communications celebrates success

8 Sep 2025

The European Space Agency (ESA) continues to drive forward-looking satellite technologies through its Advanced Manufacturing Processes for High Reliability Photonics Transceivers (AutoMAIT) project. The successful activity has demonstrated an improvement on the critical alignment of optical fibres that communicate data at high speed with semiconductor photonic integrated circuit (PIC) devices, converting the data into electronic signals.

ESA-supported Lacuna Space CubeSats launch to expand direct-to-device Internet of Things constellation

15 Jul 2025

Two European Space Agency (ESA)-funded CubeSat satellites, which form the beginnings of an Internet of Things (IoT) constellation to ambitiously provide connectivity for underserved areas, successfully launched into low Earth orbit from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, US, on a Transporter-14 mission and aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 launcher on 23 June 2025 at 22:25pm BST (2:25pm PDT). The launch is a major step forward in scaling a world-leading direct-to-device IoT network. 

ESA-hosted workshop drives technological leadership for telecom payloads

8 May 2025

The European Space Agency (ESA) hosted its 5th Workshop on Advanced Flexible Telecom Payloads at its European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications (ECSAT), located on Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in the UK.