EU GOVSATCOM in a nutshell
EU GOVSATCOM is the satellite communications component of the European Union’s Space programme.
GOVSATCOM (Government Satellite Communications) provides secure, resilient, and cost-effective satellite communications to critical EU and EU Member States managing security critical missions and infrastructures. Today, there is a patchwork of government and commercial systems providing secure satellite communication services to governmental, civil and defence users in Europe.
How it works?
GOVSATCOM is built on pooling and sharing. It brings together existing satellite communication capacities and services owned by certain Member States, in particular governmental and military satellites. These resources are then made available to authorised European governmental users, including Member States that do not possess their own satellite capacity and would otherwise rely on non EU or commercial providers for sensitive communications. EU GOVSATCOM services provide support to security actors in crisis management, border and maritime surveillance, and management of key infrastructure, including diplomatic communication networks. Here are some of the main activities which benefit:
Crisis management: Both military and civilian responders have access to secured communications services linking rear bases and command and control centres.
Border and maritime surveillance: Actors involved in surveillance operations will receive information in near real-time, shortening the time between the detection of an event and the information of a response team.
Key infrastructure management: Operators of key infrastructure such as power plants, finance and banking systems, energy and communication grids, and more, will receive a secure communication link between operation platform
Use cases
Satellite-based secure communications enable a wide array of use cases, ranging from ensuring secure communications in the Arctic, where there is no reliable ground system for telecommunications, to supporting the continued growth of drones and Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) and Machine-to-Machine (M2M) applications. Anything which requires a secure, safe and reliable communication link or connection will benefit from GOVSATCOM.