ARTES 4.0 Partnership Projects: Our Missions

ESA's Partnership Projects (PP), as part of the Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES 4.0) programme, federate industry around large-scale programmes, developing innovative cutting-edge solutions in partnership with private or public operators. This innovative approach allows European prime contractors and equipment suppliers to be competitive in the market.

ESA Partnership Projects generate great benefits for industry and member states, enabling greater risk sharing and positive trade-offs between the technological development and the commercial constraints of the missions.

How to work with ESA ARTES 4.0

ESA Satellite Telecommunications

Objectives of the ARTES 4.0 Partnership Projects Programme Line

ESA Partnership Projects federate industry around large-scale programmes, developing innovative cutting-edge solutions in partnership with private or public operators. This innovative approach allows European prime contractors and equipment suppliers to be competitive in the market. ESA Partnership Projects generate great benefits for industry and member states.

Develop cutting-edge satellite missions

ESA has implemented several Partnership Projects through its programme of Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES). These include Eagle-1, HummingSat, Novacom and Triton-X, ranging from large geostationary satellites to cube sats, as part of a portfolio of more than 50 satellite-based systems at different stages of implementation.

These missions demonstrate the unique results of Partnership Projects in federating European industry around large-scale programmes and developing innovative cutting-edge solutions in partnership with private and public operators.

Fostering European and Canadian competitiveness

ESA Partnership Projects generate major benefits for industry and Member States by fostering the competitiveness of the satcom industry in Europe and Canada, and by creating new value-added solutions and opportunities for industry that would otherwise not be offered.

Risk sharing between ESA and industry

Moreover, Partnership Projects facilitate pioneering innovation through greater risk sharing, with ESA bearing the risks related to the development of innovative solutions and the operators assuming the commercial risks in answer to market needs. Without this partnership approach, many projects would never have emerged because they would have been too risky either technically or commercially.

Sharing commercial best practices

ESA’s involvement ensures high quality and performance; supporting primes and subcontractors while offering a tailored and efficient approach based on commercial best practice.

Generate socio-economic benefits

Partnership Projects generate strong socio-economic benefits for European countries. All ESA stakeholders report substantial benefits against most critical economic, technologic and strategic factors. Partnerships projects also enable greater risk sharing and positive trade-offs between the technological development and the commercial constraints of the missions.

What projects are we looking for?

For the best chance of success in securing funding via the ARTES 4.0 programme and provided all other conditions are met, submissions for the Partnership Projects programme line should be in line with the following specific requirements:

• Projects in the satellite communications industry that can be provided with the right environment to introduce innovative space-based solutions into the commercial market. 
• Ideas that generate benefits for industry and member states. 
• Concepts that offer cutting-edge solutions that can be developed with private and public operators. 
• Projects that enable European prime contractors and equipment suppliers to be competitive in the market.

How to get involved?

ESA is offering an opportunity for private parties within ESA’s Member States and Canada to propose potential Partnership Projects. 

Please refer to our 'How to work with us’ section here to find a variety of opportunities to be part of the next cutting-edge space communications project!

How to work with ESA ARTES 4.0

Flight heritage since 1993

Ever since the inception of the ARTES Programme back in 1993, ESA has initiated, developed, built, flown and commercialised many new satellite telecommunications technologies. In this overview you can see some of these groundbreaking missions of the past, the present and the future!