EU to seek pan-European broadband-by-satellite system?
October 19, 2020
By Chris Forrester
ASD-Eurospace, Europe’s space industry trade association, issued what it called an ‘Industry Manifesto’ on October 15 which called for a “resilient satellite system for secure connectivity […] to make Europe fit for the Digital Age”.
The document calls for a constellation of Low Earth orbiting (LEO) satellites, owned by the European Commission, and serving military, government and also consumers with secure communications.
Eurospace, in its White Paper, made reference to various European political leaders who have in recent weeks expressed the need for the European Union to rely on a secure space-based connectivity system able to provide for secure satellite communications and for high speed connectivity everywhere in Europe.
“The European space industry, gathered within Eurospace, is convinced that the political momentum for a new space-based strategic system for connectivity serving the needs of European citizens, institutions and businesses has to be seized,” states the manifesto.
One of Eurospace’s worries is that Europe’s future communications being controlled by the likes of Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook or Google, not to mention Elon Musk’s Starlink, OneWeb or other would-be operators of LEO hardware in space.
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