Thomas Lindell, Business Development Director, ETL Systems
As global space infrastructure evolves, and geopolitical tensions mount, Europe is reclaiming sovereign capability with programs such as IRIS². Nation states are also developing their own programmes as they too look to secure and control their own satellite communications.
However, what does this mean for the ground segment? Thomas Lindell, business development director at ETL Systems, looks at some of the latest developments—and what’s needed to help Europe realize its space ambitions.
Space superpowers, such as the US, China and India, may dominate the market today but Europe is pushing ahead with plans to grow its capabilities at both a national and supranational level.
The European Union (EU) announced another step forward in its IRIS² program at the end of last year, with plans to develop a multi-orbital constellation of 290 satellites aimed at reclaiming European sovereignty and security.
Even so, the timelines for IRIS² are long. The first communications aren’t expected until 2030, which seems like an age away when you consider how quickly the big commercial operators are advancing their technologies and constellations.
That’s not stopping European nation states, in both the EU and the UK, pressing ahead with their own projects in the meantime.
Italy is developing its LEO satellite constellation, while Germany is launching two, new, GEO satellites as part of its SATCOMBw program. France recently launched its NEXUS initiative, developed in partnership with Eutelsat OneWeb, to provide more resilient and up-to-date communications for the French Army. The UK is expanding Skynet 6, as well, and Hungary is developing its own space program.
While it may look like these countries are operating in isolation, many of these nation states still have their eye on eventually being part of the IRIS² communications infrastructure. Indeed, the advances they make in the meantime will contribute to its success.
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What’s driving the change?
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In an unstable world, reclaiming sovereign capabilities is critical to national security. Our growing reliance on satellite communications makes national infrastructure increasingly vulnerable to highly disruptive cyber-attacks, which could bring down entire healthcare systems and supply chains.
There are direct benefits for military operations, too. During the ongoing conflict in Ukraine we’ve seen increased reports of GNSS or GPS jamming, with ships experiencing issues with their navigation systems either because they’re jammed or they’re being spoofed so that it appears those vessels are in a different location. This, of course, puts them at risk of running aground.
Speaking to a representative from Ukraine at the 2025 European MilSatCom Summit in June, it was clear that military personnel need to be able to respond quickly once jamming or spoofing is suspected to have occurred. This can best be achieved with a digitized ground segment which offers capacity, scalability, interoperability, and flexibility benefits compared to typical, analog setups.
Military decision-makers need to be able to establish multiple navigation scenarios within the communication chain in order for signals to be automatically switched to another teleport, satellite, or frequency if the sensor detects an issue. Within a digitized and virtualized environment, scenarios are remotely pre-programmed and/or managed using AI and Machine Learning (ML) rather than having engineers switching cards and moving cables on the ground, thereby allowing for a degree of flexibility that is not yet feasible with analog equipment.
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The DIF difference
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Public satellite constellations, such as Starlink, may have a use in the defense sector for non-sensitive communications, like soldiers making cellphone calls, watching TV, or accessing the internet. But for sovereign and highly-sensitive communications, GEO satellites still do much of the heavy lifting, making them vulnerable to challenges with latency, coverage issues, and jamming. To resolve these, operators need to be able to access a wide range of terminals, capable of recognizing and responding to jamming/spoofing threats.
A near-future ground segment would include terminals that automatically switch to alternative satellites when interference is detected, with no disruption to service. These terminals must be free of sensitive or classified technology which may be targeted by malicious actors. They also need to be cost-effective enough for operators to deploy at scale. All this depends on operators being able to develop their Digital IF ground architecture. Bridging the gap between traditional RF technology and the evolving, cloud virtualized, ground segment, DIF—or ‘RF over IP’—allows them to create so-called ‘dumb terminals’: low-cost devices equipped only with a digitizer to stream raw signal data, but with no sensitive technology.
These dumb terminals act as a conduit for the data. The real work is carried out remotely, reducing the risk that such would be lost in hostile environments or cyber attacks. Sensitive information encryption, decryption, and waveform processing are all handled at a secure central facility, which is protected both physically and digitally with strict access controls.
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Overcoming the barriers
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The drive to reclaim sovereign capabilities, underpinned by increased defence spending, opens up new opportunities for European manufacturers. Certainly in the case of IRIS², consortium subcontractors must be based in EU member states for the development of sensitive parts, whereas the program aims to provide fair access to SMEs and start-ups, including in non-EU countries.
There are still barriers to overcome if Europe is to realize the potential of its space sector. As mentioned previously, more terminals are needed—yet currently, these terminals must be certified, and procurement is limited to a small number of approved vendors.
That said, we are moving forward, with a shift toward digitally-driven, ground segment models.
Although initial satellite deployments are likely to include traditional infrastructure, they are being designed with future digital upgrades in mind, and that will provide long-term flexibility and scalability. By integrating traditional RF systems into modern digital infrastructures, DIF ensures that capital investments in RF equipment continue to deliver value while providing modern digital capabilities.
Alongside digitally-based architecture, I believe we’ll see constellations based on the 5G NTN (Non-Terrestrial Network) standard, which will open up the ecosystem to more vendors and enable integration with existing terrestrial networks, as well as reducing the cost per bit.
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Final thoughts
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This is a major shift in how the ground segment is perceived. As satellites become software-defined, they need to be developed at the same time as the ground segment. That’s a big change in mindset from 10 or even five years ago, when conversations were largely around what is happening in space, not here on Earth.
In fact, the ground segment is key to unlocking the flexibility operators need to meet customers’ changing needs, both in sectors such as defence and in the commercial world.
www.etlsystems.com
Thomas Lindell has an engineering background and over three decades of experience in sales, marketing, and support of high-tech Test & Measurement, EMC/Microwave, and Satellite Communication equipment. Currently Business Development Director for EMEA & APAC at ETL Systems, he has previously held senior roles at Swedish Microwave AB and Proxitron AB, contributing extensively to product development, technical sales, and strategic partnerships, including as chief technical liaison in the O3b mPower contract with SES. He is also actively engaged in industry standardisation through non-profit organisations such as WTA, GSOA, and the DIFI Consortium.
