Astrium Services has been awarded a contract by the European Defence Agency for a new preparatory study to coordinate the future military communication needs of the EU.

The one-year project will create a centralised system for the procurement of satellite communications (SATCOM) on commercial space capacity such as Ku, Ka and C bands.

During the project period, Astrium will map out the SATCOM needs of the armed forces of European member states and also develop an operational framework for the European satellite communication procurement cell (ESCPC).

The ESCPC will coordinate and aggregate EU member states’ orders for satellite communications services ensuring the best and most cost-effective access to commercial capacity for military purposes.

Astrium Services CEO Eric Béranger said the firm would enable the EDA to develop a flexible procurement process across the EU.

“Over the next year, we will be working closely with EU member states to assess their SATCOM requirements and their communication needs, and we will propose the ESCPC solutions to answer them,” he said.