European firms line up behind push for secure SATCOM standard

STUTTGART, Germany — European satellite communications industry and academia have kicked off a government-supported effort to develop a new protected waveform for the continent’s militaries.

The European Protected Waveform is one of the 61 projects to receive inaugural European Defense Fund (EDF) support, the European Union announced in summer 2022. The goal of the program is to design a new secure and resilient waveform standard that will help EU armed forces tackle increased throughput demand over satellite while supporting dispersed operations, mobility, and novel security threats, according to an EDF fact sheet.

The consortium formally kicked off in January at EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, according to satellite communications company ST Engineering iDirect Europe, which is leading the industry players in the project. Twenty companies and academic institutions across Europe are currently part of the group, ST Engineering iDirect said in a Tuesday press release.

“The development of waveforms has always been part of our company’s DNA, and we aim to seek the best balance between efficiency, agility and security,” said Koen Willems, the company’s vice president for EU program and government relations. “With their combined knowledge and experience, bringing together these key players under the EPW consortium will equip European countries with highly reliable, seamless satellite communications to ensure that they can communicate with confidence and security no matter where they operate.”

The project is slated to receive a maximum of €25 million of EDF support out of an estimated €30 million program cost over 39 months, covering the study and design phases, according to the European Protected Waveform EDF fact sheet. The goal is for small and medium-sized European nations to access an interoperable, and affordable, secure military-grade protected waveform alongside larger EU countries, via the EDF initiative.

The full consortium includes the following companies and institutions: Belgium’s ST Engineering iDirect Europe, Antwerp Space, and Royal Military Academy; Germany’s Airbus Defense and Space, Neosat, and OHB Digital Connect; Italy’s Elital, Leonardo, and Thales Alenia Space Italia; France’s Eutelsat and Thales Six GTS Space; Spain’s Indra and Telespazio; Croatia’s Amphinicy; Poland’s GISS; Romania’s Lasting Software; Luxembourg’s LuxGovSat; Denmark’s QuadSat; and the Netherlands’ CTG Celestia and Royal Netherlands Aerospace Center.

Vivienne Machi is a reporter based in Stuttgart, Germany, contributing to Defense News' European coverage. She previously reported for National Defense Magazine, Defense Daily, Via Satellite, Foreign Policy and the Dayton Daily News. She was named the Defence Media Awards' best young defense journalist in 2020.

德国斯图加特——欧洲卫星通信行业和学术界已启动一项政府支持的工作，旨在为欧洲大陆的军队开发一种新的受保护波形。

欧盟于2022年夏季宣布，欧洲保护波形是首批获得欧洲防务基金（EDF）支持的61个项目之一。根据EDF的情况说明书，该计划的目标是设计一种新的安全可靠的波形标准，以帮助欧盟武装部队应对日益增长的卫星吞吐量需求，同时支持分散作战、机动性和应对新型安全威胁。

据牵头该项目的卫星通信公司ST Engineering iDirect Europe称，该联盟于今年1月在布鲁塞尔欧盟委员会总部正式启动。ST Engineering iDirect在周二的新闻稿中表示，目前欧洲共有20家公司和学术机构参与其中。

“波形开发一直是公司基因的一部分，我们的目标是在效率、灵活性和安全性之间寻求最佳平衡，”公司负责欧盟项目和政府关系的副总裁科恩·威廉姆斯表示。“通过汇集这些关键参与者的知识和经验，EPW联盟将为欧洲各国提供高度可靠、无缝的卫星通信，确保无论在何处运营，都能充满信心且安全地进行通信。”

根据欧洲保护波形 (EDF) 项目概况介绍，该项目预计将在 39 个月内获得最高 2500 万欧元的 EDF 资助，项目总成本预计为 3000 万欧元，涵盖研究和设计阶段。该项目的目标是通过 EDF 计划，使欧洲中小国家能够与欧盟大国一样，获得可互操作、价格合理且安全的军用级保护波形。

该联盟包括以下公司和机构：比利时的ST Engineering iDirect Europe、安特卫普航天公司和皇家军事学院；德国的空中客车防务与航天公司、Neosat和OHB Digital Connect；意大利的Elital、Leonardo和Thales Alenia Space Italia；法国的Eutelsat和Thales Six GTS Space；西班牙的Indra和Telespazio；克罗地亚的Amphinicy；波兰的GISS；罗马尼亚的Lasting Software；卢森堡的LuxGovSat；丹麦的QuadSat；以及荷兰的CTG C​​elestia和荷兰皇家航空航天中心。

薇薇安·马奇是驻德国斯图加特的一名记者，主要负责《防务新闻》的欧洲报道。她此前曾为《国家防务杂志》、《防务日报》、《卫星通讯》、《外交政策》和《代顿每日新闻》撰稿。2020年，她荣获防务媒体奖最佳青年防务记者称号。