Preparing demonstration missions for Earth Observation and Satellite telecommunication for Space solutions (Space Partnership)

Closed

The source does not publish a status. We worked this out from the opening and closing dates it does publish.

Sign in to bookmark this

Expected Outcome:
The topic encompasses actions within the scope of the co-programmed European Partnership on Globally Competitive Space Systems (‘Space Partnership’) in the areas of satellite communication (SatCom), Earth Observation (EO) and New Commercial Space Transportation Solutions and is part of cohesive activities in the domain of digital developments under the grand heading of “digitalisation for commercial space solutions”.
Digitalisation is a major enabler for enhancing the value of an End-to-End EO and SatCom system. Under the area of Using Space on Earth related to SatCom and EO, below this topic focusses on the Mid to High TRL level developments of key technologies[1] required to strengthen competitiveness in these domains, contributing to the preparation of EO and SatCom demonstration missions.
Projects are expected to contribute to one or several of the following outcomes:

• Favouring a competitive and sustainable European Space Sector;
• Enable the European Space Industry to maintain a significant share of the global connectivity market;
• Advanced Earth observation and SatCom payloads, technologies and processing means (on ground and in space);
• Advanced EO and SatCom fostering AI across space system;
• Enhanced security of SatCom and EO services, supporting advanced technologies for both ground and space commercial applications;
• End-to-end demonstrator for collaborative Earth Observation and Satellite telecommunication for Space solutions. This will contribute to developing, deploying global, more flexible and reactive space-based services applications, to contribute to fostering the EU's space sector competitiveness, as stated in the expected impact of this destination.
Scope:
The areas of R&I, which needs to be addressed to tackle the above-mentioned expected outcomes are:

• R&I on End-to-End SatCom Mission capabilities, secure SatCom services and satellites as network nodes in a distributed system, radio-frequency payloads, flexible and modular testbed for complex satcom system architectures to assess performances, testbed for processing RF signal directly onboard the spacecraft, compatibility of the different elements and operations concepts;
• R&I on LEO or VLEO earth observation equipment, subsystems, applications and services enabling real time reaction (e.g. use cases requiring low latency), on on-board processing to optimize EO missions’ performance or timeliness, EO ground segment interfaces and data flow standardisation and adoption, smart multi-source EO intelligence information fusion also on ground;
• R&I on synergetic technologies, building blocks and processes with applicability across both EO and SatCom next generation operation systems such as operational optimisation for increasing lifetime, design optimisation for increasing efficiency and advanced techniques for large system of systems or multi-mission operation optimisation, as well as tip & cue demonstration combining RF and EO using inter-satellite links (including optical). Developments should aim at EO and Telecom technologies on-ground in relevant environment and in orbit software demonstration when flight is feasible and adding value focusing on software and digital tools (e.g. algorithms, functions).
Proposals may contribute to one or more of the above R&I areas, however the main area addressed should be clearly and unambiguously identified in the proposal text.
Proposals are expected to promote cooperation between different actors (industry, SMEs, research institutions and infrastructures and academia) and consider opportunities to quickly turn technological innovation into commercial use in space via e.g., on-ground relevant environment or in orbit demonstration.
It is expected that projects make use of existing EU technologies and/or building blocks, including at component level, contributing to EU non-dependence and strengthen competitiveness, and this should be clearly presented in the proposal. Furthermore, proposed activities should be complementary to H2020 and Horizon Europe funded projects, national activities and activities funded by the European Space Agency (ESA).
This topic contributes to the implementation of the European Partnership on ‘Globally Competitive Space Systems’ (GCSS).
In this topic, the integration of the gender dimension (sex and gender analysis) in research and innovation content should be addressed only if relevant in relation to the objectives of the research effort.
Technology Readiness Level - Technology readiness level expected from completed projects
Activities are expected to achieve TRL 7-8 by the end of the project. The reference TRL definition is the ISO 16290:2013 applicable to the space sector.

[1] Identified in the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) of the co-Programmed European Partnership on Globally Competitive Space Systems (https://www.space-aisbl.org/sria/)

Status

Closed

Deadline

16 September 2026 (time not stated)

Opens

10 March 2026

Published

12 December 2025

Total budget

€26,000,000

Grant range

€5,000,000 – €10,000,000

Country

European Union (EU-wide)

Programme

Horizon Europe (HORIZON)

Funder

European Commission

Official page

Open at the source portal

What applying involved

14 steps, all of them taken from this call's own documents.

This call is closed. The steps below show what applying involved, and are kept for reference only.

Understand the call

• Read the call on the source portal and download its documents
• Write the proposal against the award criteria and thresholds

  Eligible proposals submitted under this topic and exceeding all the evaluation thresholds will be awarded a STEP Seal . To ensure a balanced portfolio covering all the development areas described in the scope section, grants will be awarded to applications not only in order of ranking but at least also to one proposal that is the highest ranked within each development area, provided that the applications attain all thresholds are described in Annex D of the Work Programme … — conditions §5a

• Check the grant's legal and financial set-up standard for this programme

  Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2021-2027) – and in actions under the Research and Training Programme of the European Atomic Energy Community (2021-2025) . described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes. Specific conditions described in the specific topic of the Work … — conditions §6

• Check the amount you plan to request against the call's range

Check you are eligible

• Check your country of establishment is eligible

  The source scopes this to EU Member States. — ai_results.eligibility

• Confirm your technology readiness level against the range the call states
• Check every partner is established in an eligible country standard for this programme

  described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide — conditions §2

• Meet the call's other eligibility conditions

  If projects use satellite-based earth observation, positioning, navigation and/or related timing data and services, beneficiaries must make use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS (other data and services may additionally be used). In order to achieve the expected outcomes, and safeguard the Union’s strategic assets, interests, autonomy, or security, participation is limited to legal entities established in Member States, Norway and Iceland. Proposals including entities … — conditions §3

• Be able to show financial and operational capacity standard for this programme

  described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes — conditions §4

Prepare the documents

• Prepare Part B of the Application Form standard for this programme

  Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System. — conditions

• Complete the detailed budget table standard for this programme
• Prepare the declaration of ownership and control standard for this programme

Submit

• Check the submission and evaluation process standard for this programme

  are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual — conditions §5b

• Submit before the closing date shown above

  The source states the closing day but no closing time — check the portal before the last day. — calls.deadline

Sign in to track these

Other calls under Horizon Europe (HORIZON)

• PV based electrification of the economy: Designing & optimising PV systems supporting industrial electrification and promoting participation in electricity markets (EUPI-PV Partnership)Forthcoming · deadline 1 December 2027 · European Union (EU-wide) · €18,000,000
• Advanced TSO control rooms to enhance grid observability, stability and resilienceForthcoming · deadline 1 December 2027 · European Union (EU-wide) · €28,500,000
• Advanced Distribution Management Systems (ADSM) for more efficient and flexible distribution gridsForthcoming · deadline 1 December 2027 · European Union (EU-wide) · €28,500,000
• Community of practice - Data-Driven Decision-Making in EnergyForthcoming · deadline 1 December 2027 · European Union (EU-wide) · €6,000,000
• Industrial processes and equipment for innovative, reliable and scalable tandem technologies (EUPI-PV Partnership)Forthcoming · deadline 1 December 2027 · European Union (EU-wide) · €28,500,000
• Integrated Approaches for Retrofitting Infrastructures with Innovative Energy Storage TechnologiesForthcoming · deadline 1 December 2027 · European Union (EU-wide) · €22,500,000
• Demonstration of hydropower technologies for efficient and forward-looking refurbishment of existing hydropower plantsForthcoming · deadline 1 December 2027 · European Union (EU-wide) · €17,000,000
• Delivery of industrial CCUS clusters – Societal Readiness pilotForthcoming · deadline 1 December 2027 · European Union (EU-wide) · €30,000,000

All calls under this programme

Similar opportunities

• Preparing demonstration missions for collaborative Earth Observation and Satellite telecommunication for Space solutions (Space Partnership)Forthcoming · deadline 2 September 2027 · European Union (EU-wide) · €26,000,000 · same sector, same funder
• Digital enablers and building blocks for collaborative Earth Observation and Satellite telecommunications for Space solutions (Space Partnership)Forthcoming · deadline 2 September 2027 · European Union (EU-wide) · €4,000,000 · same sector, same funder
• Digital enablers and building-blocks for Earth Observation and Satellite telecommunication for Space solutions (Space Partnership)Closed · deadline 16 September 2026 · European Union (EU-wide) · €12,000,000 · same sector, same funder
• Digital solutions for autonomy for space transportation systems, design and simulation tools - Digital enablers and building blocks (Space Partnership)Forthcoming · deadline 2 September 2027 · European Union (EU-wide) · €5,000,000 · same sector, same funder
• Scientific analysis and exploitation of space dataClosed · deadline 16 September 2026 · European Union (EU-wide) · €3,920,000 · same sector, same funder
• Weltraum und LuftfahrttechnologienOpen · deadline 31 December 2026 · Austria