SES and ESA link for new Government sat-platform
November 21, 2017
By Chris Forrester
SES says it is leading a European consortium of industrial partners in an agreement with the European Space Agency (ESA) to create Pacis-1, a new satellite communication platform for governments that is aimed at making secure satellite communications accessible and available to governments and institutions.
Pacis-1 is part of the ESA’s Govsatcom Precursor programme and is the first step in demonstrating how the European space industry can support the EU’s Govsatcom initiative and leverage governmental and commercial satellite services to provide secure access to satellite communications for a wide range of governmental applications. The project will demonstrate in-field usage of the system for civil protection, border control, humanitarian missions, maritime surveillance, among other applications.
Under the agreement, SES says it will put in place the architecture and service concept of Pacis-1, leveraging the space assets and ground infrastructure of the stakeholders involved in the project. Under the Pacis-1 public-private partnership, the members of the consortium will be providing specific technological contributions, including engineering, satellite capacity, commercial, project management and other services. Other industrial partners that have joined the SES-led consortium are Redu Space Services, GovSat, Newtec, QinetiQ and Tekever.