Thales to study UAS command and control by satellite for European Space Agency

Thales Alenia Space has won a contract from the 19-nation European Space Agency (ESA) to lead a nine-month study on developing satellite communications solutions for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS).

The ESPRIT (Emerging system concepts for UAS command & control via satellite) study will focus on the provision of communication capacity for Command & Control (C2) links to Unmanned Aircraft Vehicles (UAVs) flying through civilian airspace.

From 10 October, UAVs will be operated exclusively in so-called “segregated airspace” where they do not interfere with non-military aircraft.
As the leader of an industrial consortium for ESPRIT, Thales Alenia Space will study solutions at both spectrum and system levels. To cover all aspects of the domain, its team includes major actors in the aeronautical satellite communications, UAS, space systems and regulatory issues.

The nine-month contract, whose value was not disclosed, follows an agreement between ESA and the European Defense Agency to work together on joint projects in which each agency would contribute funds. The agreement, announced in June, said that unmanned aerial vehicles would be one of the first areas of inquiry by the two agencies.