Many aspects of daily life depend on connectivity, from enabling air passengers to fly the greenest routes by directing planes to follow the most efficient trajectories, to tracking the 90% of the world’s trade that travels on ships and monitoring their environmental impact at sea.

Connectivity enables human interactions through telecommunications, remote learning and telemedicine, it informs energy generation and distribution, and the supply of clean water, as well as how traders price goods and how financial markets operate.

Ensuring these connections are secure and that information remains confidential will become even more important in the future, as the world becomes increasingly digital.

ESA is working with the space industry in Europe to create innovative solutions for secure communications services. It is also working with public organisations to help them define and implement their initiatives for secure connectivity, and it strongly supports the European Commission’s connectivity initiative, which was proposed by Thierry Breton, the EU Commissioner for space.

Elodie Viau, ESA’s Director of Telecommunications and Integrated Applications, is due to address an online event organised by the European Commission today that aims to encourage entrepreneurs and inventors, as well as established space companies, to boost secure connectivity.

The one-day online workshop will examine: next-generation cryptography, quantum key distribution and inter-satellite links; new constellation concepts and payload technologies; innovative operations and applications; and advanced platform and launcher technologies. There will also be a session on venture capital for small and medium-sized enterprises.

It will be followed by two days of pitches and discussion sessions between the various industries present, including one-to-one targeted online meetings that aim to encourage partnerships.

Elodie Viau said: “ESA is partnering with the European Commission to improve life on Earth by preparing the most advanced satellite infrastructure for connectivity, potentially using quantum encryption and AI technology.

“We have been working for years with companies of all sizes, entrepreneurs and inventors to co-create and co-innovate, simultaneously boosting the competitiveness of the European space industry and ensuring that Europe’s precious data remains secure in an increasingly digitalised world.”