The new French SATCOM operator Rovial SAS is unveiling their plan to develop, build and operate an European-centric, secure, end-to-end, high-capacity, and scalable satellite constellation.
Rovial leads a consortium that will include several, cutting-edge, European companies to realize the satellite network that will establish an independent European communications backbone in space and contribute to Europe’s economic growth, safety, and security.
The constellation will serve a range of applications, including Internet-of-Things (IOT), autonomous vehicles, video/rich-data communications, and defense and humanitarian missions.
The foundational members of the consortium will also include Mynaric, a provider of in-space laser communications, Reflex Aerospace, a designer and manufacturer of various classes of satellite systems, and Isar Aerospace, a launch service provider for small and medium satellites.
Rovial intends to broaden the consortium to include a second tier of European suppliers of subsystems and components. The consortium’s first major milestone is the launch demonstration satellites in 2022. The project has been designed to support the three great priorities of the European Commission:
- (1) “Autonomy and sovereignty”, by relying on European technology for key components such as
- (2) The “Green Deal“ by offering sustainability with a highly-scalable constellation capable of delivering early services with as few as eight satellites
- (3) “Digitization” by incorporating cutting edge and state of the art software engineering and other satellite and terrestrial technologies to ensure efficient, reliable, and low-cost services to customers and end users
“We are extremely excited to be progressing this opportunity with our highly-regarded consortium partners and other European companies and expect to address all technological and operational challenges and begin to launch our innovative commercial service in Europe in 2023-2024 in line with European Commission objectives” said Raghu Das, co-founder of Rovial, a Paris-based startup founded by commercial space industry veterans.
“Of course, this is not something that just came up overnight,” added Mynaric CEO Bulent Altan. “Matter of fact, there has been activity in the background on this ever since European Commissioner Breton started his initiative more than a year ago, and I am happy to see that the paths are converging today.”