JANUARY 2023

OPENSPACE 31

Sustainable Use of Space

Safeguarding the long-term
use of space

Space in Smart Cities

The New Enabling technologies for

clean, green cities

Era of Space
Evolution of Cybersecurity
Protecting assets in a new era
of cybercrime

Make PDF, with bleed, from this

FRENCH VERSION

The French Space Sector

The New Space Market
Space and Humanitarian Aid
Digital Continuity
Editors
Isabelle Roels Karen Packham
Karen Rogers Damian Schogger
Stéphanie Guinard
Design
Cary Fielder
Contributors
Patrick Chatard Moulin
Acting Head of Division, SecDefPol.5 Space, EU External Action Service
Michel Bosco
Chief European Institutions Officer
Christine Leurquin
Director of Strategy for European Institutions, Belgium and Luxembourg
Jean-Marc Astorg
Director of Strategy, CNES
Murielle Lafaye
Deputy Director of the Space Economy Observatory, CNES
Jean-Pierre Diris
Deputy Director for Telecommunications and Navigation Projects, CNES
Giao-Minh Nguyen
Co-Founder and Managing Director, Prométhée
Nina Olesen
Head of Sector, Applications and Human Factors, European Cyber
Security Organisation (ECSO)
Roberto Cascella
Head of Sector, Technology, Supply Chain and Strategic Autonomy,
ECSO
Pascal Rogiest
Acting Managing Director Cybersecurity Division
Guillaume Tanier
Co-Founder and CEO, Leanspace
Adel Haddoud
CEO, Infinite Orbits
Julie Duclercq
CEO, Ternwaves
Romain Lucken
Co-Founder and CEO, Share My Space
Christopher Topping
ESA Lead of the Civil Security from Space Programme
Sam Gerené
Competence Area Lead Concurrent Design and MBSE
Hans Peter de Koning
Principal and Systems Engineer, DEKonsult
Marcel Verhoef
Systems Engineer, ESA’s Directorate of Technology, Engineering and
Quality Systems & Concurrent Engineering Section (TEC-SYE)

Publisher
RHEA Group, Avenue Einstein 8, 1300 Wavre, Belgium

www.rheagroup.com
openspace@rheagroup.com
 Contents
05 25
Welcome to OpenSpace The Evolution of Cybersecurity
Services
07
The Path to Sustainable 33
Use of Space Growth of the New Space Market

13 43
The Use of Space The Role of Satellites in Supporting
in Smart Cities Humanitarian Aid

19 49
France in Space: Challenges Digital Continuity – Towards
and Prospects Engineering Utopia

JANUARY 2023 3
4 OPENSPACE
Welcome to OpenSpace
Welcome to the 31st edition of OpenSpace.
As we start 2023, we know it is going to be an ever
exciting and challenging year for the space and
cybersecurity sectors. The ongoing war in Ukraine is
impacting us all globally, from both humanitarian and
economic standpoints. It has dramatically increased the
number of cyberattacks throughout the western world,
with all organizations, from large corporations to small
businesses, being targeted, as well as individuals.
The need for everyone to strengthen their cybersecurity
resilience is therefore paramount, as no one is immune.
In this edition, we look at how cybersecurity services
are evolving to protect against the continual onslaught
of cyberattacks in every sector by cybercriminals from
multiple places.
Cybersecurity is also a consideration for smart
cities programmes, along with diverse use of space
technologies. Smart cities are growing in number, with
well over 1,000 projects created between 2012 and
2022. Some involve developing completely new cities,
such as Songdo in South Korea and NEOM in Saudi
Arabia, while others focus on utilizing a wide range of
space and other technologies to implement initiatives
such as digital health systems. Space is highly critical
to the provision of humanitarian aid too, as we explain
in this issue, providing a holistic view of a crisis to
mobilize assistance to affected countries.
In other articles, we look at the future of the French
space sector from the point of view of CNES, the
French National Space Agency, and gather the
perspective of New Space companies, all with
innovative new technologies that are contributing to the
creation of more cost-effective and agile space systems
and services, including the servicing of spacecraft
in space. Established organizations and institutions
JANUARY 2023
remain key stakeholders with an important role to play,
but the innovation that entrepreneurial New Space
organizations generate is driving change to make
space technologies more diversified and accessible for
everyone.
The European Space Agency (ESA) is also driving
change to achieve digital continuity across the space
sector. The goal is to enable information to be shared
across the various platforms and tools used in different
disciplines and domains in multiple organizations. This
aims to offer many benefits, including letting humans
and computers each do what they do best.
Finally, we include an article on the sustainability
of space. How will commercial and institutional
organizations manage space traffic more efficiently
to create a safe, secure and sustainable outer space
environment for future generations, given the huge
numbers of objects already orbiting Earth and the
thousands of satellites planned for launch?
I hope you enjoy this 31st edition of OpenSpace
and I wish you all a very dynamic and
successful 2023. n
André Sincennes
CEO, RHEA Group
5
“The unprecedented population of objects in
space is a real, concrete risk, posing a direct threat
to the safety and security for orbital traffic and
space sustainability.”

6 OPENSPACE
The Path to Sustainable
Use of Space
In February 2022, the European Union (EU) published
a Joint Communication on an EU approach to space
traffic management in response to the escalating
numbers of satellites being launched every year and
the potential impact of this exponential growth. The
aim is to ensure space remains a safe, secure and
sustainable environment. OpenSpace uncovers the key
role that the EU External Action Service (EEAS) is playing
in steering European space sustainability activities.
Space may be an infinitely vast
expanse, but around the Earth it
is getting crowded. There have
been over 6,000 successful
rocket launches since the start
of the space age in 1957, putting
into orbit nearly 12,000 satellites,
of which over 4,500 are currently
operational1. Tens of thousands of
satellites are likely to join them in the next decade,
including so-called mega-constellations of small
satellites.
Adding to the congestion in space is all the
debris from defunct satellites and rockets,
including non-operational satellites and more
than 1 million items larger than 1cm2. Any one
of these could damage a functioning
satellite. The concern is this could lead
to the Kessler Effect, in which the total
mass of objects in space is so high that the initial
collision gives rise to more debris, leading to more
collisions in an unstoppable chain reaction.
JANUARY 2023
In recent years, this
proliferation of satellites and
debris has mobilized governments
and organizations globally to take action on space
traffic management to ensure the sustainability of
space services. In Europe, there was a significant
move forward in February 2022 when the European
Commission and the High Representative of the Union
for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, who heads the
EEAS, issued a Joint Communication to the European
Parliament entitled ‘An EU Approach for Space Traffic
Management’.
The document’s introduction makes it clear how
seriously the problem is being viewed by the EU:
“Given the ever-growing volume of space debris
and the exponential increase of space traffic, space
is increasingly congested, threatening the viability
and security of space infrastructure and operations.
This unprecedented population of objects is a real,
concrete risk impacting routine operations in orbit
every single day, posing a direct threat to the safety
and security for orbital traffic and space sustainability.
7
© ESA/ID&Sense/ONiRiXEL
“We now stand at a crossroads: if we do not find
ways to manage space traffic, our past and present
space activities will jeopardise the safety, security and
sustainability of outer space and, as a result, our future
ability to rely on space as enabler of key services in
benefit of humankind.”
The Joint Communication continues: “The sheer
number of trackable and untrackable space objects
and the rapid pace of space operations increase
exponentially the risk of potential future incidents.
The potential repercussions may render certain
orbits unusable for decades to come; and as a direct
corollary, severely compromise or lead to failure
of space operations. The latter… may disrupt key
services such as communications, civil protection and
emergency response.”
It then notes that any interruption to global positioning,
navigation and timing (PNT) or Earth observation data
and services “would have a direct impact upon the
security, safety, economy and wellbeing of European
citizens, therefore limiting our freedom of action”.
“Our societies and economies are ever more dependent on
space services and applications for key aspects of our daily
life and of our public sector. We need to manage space traffic
in orbit – and we need to do it now.”
8 OPENSPACE
Sustainability, security, safety
The fact that one of the parties issuing the Joint
Communication is the head of the EEAS underlines
that organization’s central role in the EU’s space
activities. Indeed, for many years the EEAS has had
its own Special Envoy for Space, a role currently held
by Carine Claeys. This is an active diplomatic role,
representing the EU externally on space issues.
The EEAS addresses both policy and operational
issues relating to space. The foundation of its work
is the standpoint that space is a ‘global commons’ –
an international domain where shared or ‘common’
resources exist – and that it should be preserved
as such through sustainable practices so that all
humankind can benefit from it and use it peacefully. It
also recognizes space as a strategic domain because
it hosts infrastructure and missions that societies and
economies depend on every day, and therefore should
be protected for future generations.
The EEAS looks at space issues from a three-fold
perspective – security, safety and sustainability. The
three are intertwined; for example, a security incident,
such as deliberate destruction of a satellite in space,
also has safety and sustainability implications. Broadly
speaking, however, security refers to potential threats,
safety relates to risks and operational hazards, and
sustainability is about the preservation of space as an
environment for peaceful use, exploration and space
applications and services.
Patrick Chatard Moulin, Acting Head of Division,
SecDefPol.5 Space, EEAS, notes: “Our societies
and economies are ever more dependent on space
services and applications for key aspects of our
daily life and of our public sector. However, the huge
increase in satellites and debris puts the resilience and
safety of our space infrastructure at risk. We need to
manage space traffic in orbit – and we need to do it
now so it does not get out of hand.”
Access to space is a global issue, with importance
for every nation, including those not currently active
in space, as outlined in 2018 by Simonetta Di Pippo,
Director of the United Nations Office for Outer Space
Affairs (UNOOSA): “Space tools are highly relevant
for the attainment of all 17 Sustainable Development
Goals and their respective targets, either directly, as
enablers and drivers for sustainable development,
or indirectly, as an integral part of the indicators for
monitoring the progress towards the implementation of
the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.” 3
EU and EEAS actions
Patrick Chatard Moulin explains the EEAS’s position:
“We regard outer space as a global commons, and
believe we must address the sustainability of space
in a global effort. In our EU approach to space traffic
management, we propose therefore pairing regional
contributions to space traffic management – including
our EU contribution – and cooperation with key
partners such as the US with an overall ambition for
global cooperation on a multilateral level.”
JANUARY 2023
The Joint Communication is just the latest in a series
of actions by the EU on space sustainability. In recent
years, for example, the EEAS has been working with
EU Member States to contribute to the ‘Guidelines for
the Long-term Sustainability of Outer Space Activities
of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer
Space’ (part of UNOOSA), which was adopted in June
2019. These guidelines are non-binding, but exist to
encourage good practice, sharing of information (on
policies and practice) and development of incentives
around sustainable practices in space. Each year the
EU Member States individually indicate what they have
been doing and the EEAS contributes information
about what is happening at an EU level related to
space sustainability.
This international dialogue is important because there
are around 80 countries that are active in space, with
more that want to move into that realm. However, there
are no borders in space. When a rocket is launched,
it is the country it is launched from that has related
legal responsibilities, but everything else in space is
ungoverned by any international laws.
Outlining the challenges faced in Europe in particular,
Patrick Chatard Moulin says: “The European Union
has become a strong global player in space. It is also
increasingly making our voice heard in multilateral fora.
As we continue to grow, however, we need to ensure
we are ready to meet tomorrow’s challenges for space
sustainability – to tackle the proliferation of debris, but
make the best of the opportunity to bringing all actors
to the table to include diverse perspectives in our
efforts.”
Following on from the Joint Communication, the
EEAS is addressing four pillars:
• Assessment of civilian and military
requirements around space traffic
management, and their impacts for the EU
• Enhancing European capabilities for
operational space traffic management
• Regulatory activities
• International engagement and partnerships.
9
 The Joint Communication includes 10 actions that will on a practical level, it would not be possible to set up
be taken to deliver on these four pillars, along with a global unified space traffic management system –
descriptions, the reasons behind them and timescales at least not in the near future. The EEAS is therefore
for each one. These take into account existing pursuing a multilateral, interoperable approach. And
capabilities, such as the EU’s space surveillance and this is why international engagement is so important.
tracking (SST) capability, which is implemented by
the EU SST Consortium in collaboration with the EU
Satellite Centre. The European SST service has been
operational since 2016. More than 130 European
organizations from 23 Member States have registered
for the service (which includes collision avoidance,
fragmentation analysis and re-entry analysis) and more
than 260 satellites, including Galileo and Copernicus
satellites, benefit specifically from the collision
avoidance aspect.

From a European perspective, the EEAS’s view is that

a global effort is needed for space traffic management
and it should not be directed by a single nation. But
© ESA/CNES/Arianespace

10 OPENSPACE

In this respect, the USA is a key partner as it already
provides space surveillance data to the EU and has
been working in this area for many years. Then there
are other nations that are active in developing space
traffic management or space situational awareness
capabilities, plus those that are interested in doing
so. And finally, the EEAS will engage with UN
technical agencies and specialized bodies such as
the International Telecommunications Union and the
International Civil Aviation Organization.
Patrick Chatard Moulin from EEAS outlines the
importance of supportive behaviour internationally:
“At the international level, we are strongly advocating
for responsible behaviours and the principles of long-
term sustainability in space, including avoiding the
generation of debris. Being transparent about what
we do in orbit – and encouraging this transparent
approach in others – are important stepping-stones in
achieving sustainability.”
A sustainable future?
The Joint Communication was adopted in February
2022 and includes a commitment that by the end
of 2024, the EC will have established a certification
mechanism and applied incentive measures towards
the implementation of space traffic management
standards and guidelines. In the same timeframe, it
will also have made a proposal for EU space traffic
management legislation.
There are some who believe this is not fast enough.
This includes Eurospace, which represents the
European space manufacturing industry; its response
JANUARY 2023
© ESA
was it “strongly supports the emergence of
an EU approach on STM [space traffic management]
with regulatory and capability pillars in lockstep” but
that “the EU proposed timeframe to tackle such a
compelling problem is possibly too lengthy and seems
to underestimate the urgency for action”4.
Nevertheless, there is much to do and many
organizations to consult with. It is positive that the
sustainability of space is being seen as a matter
that needs addressing through such a wide range of
actions and should give us all hope for the future. We
just need to hope that we get through the next few
years without a major incident in space, and that all
involved nations and actors will work in accordance
with any final legislation to sustain space services for
everyone’s benefit.
Summing up, the EEAS’s Patrick Chatard Moulin says:
“Space has no boundaries – it does not belong to
anyone, and whether we are space-faring nations or
not, we all, to an extent, depend on space services and
applications and we all have a stake in safeguarding
this environment. Let us work together for a safe,
secure and sustainable use of outer space for the
benefit of all, today and for future generations.” n
Sources
1. European Commission; Questions and Answers: Space
Traffic Management; February 2022
2. European Commission; Factsheet on Space Traffic
Management; 2022
3. UNISPACE+50 High-Level Segment; reported in Space
Sustainability – A Practical Guide; Secure World Foundation
4. Eurospace; Reaction Paper: An EU Approach for Space
Traffic Management; April 2022
11
Central Park in Songdo, South Korea, is a
revolutionary smart city and by far the most
technologically integrated one in the world.

12 OPENSPACE
The Use of Space
in Smart Cities
There are many global initiatives that are looking to make cities ‘smart’ by using
digital technologies that will enable them to function more efficiently and be
sustainable. Space is playing an important role in these technologies, such as
connectivity, security, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, Earth observation,
location and tracking. OpenSpace looks at the smart cities of today and what we
can expect from those of tomorrow.

‘Smart cities’ is a concept that has been explored
extensively over the past 20 years. Initiatives include
building completely new cities, such as Songdo in
South Korea and NEOM in Saudi Arabia, and others
that aim to improve connectivity and general lifestyle
for citizens of existing conurbations.
There are a few cities that have already realized their
designers’ dreams, from providing 100% broadband
coverage for all residents, to ‘simple’ projects such
as smart rubbish bins that notify waste collection
centres when they are full, or connected street lights
that automatically turn on and off, depending on actual
lighting demands.
Many smart city applications use downstream satellite
applications such as: broadband for communications;
positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) for
transportation networks; cybersecurity to protect data;
5G for communications coverage; Earth observation
data for traffic and water management; and a
combination of these for autonomous vehicles.
Building a city from scratch
Songdo in South Korea is a revolutionary smart
city and by far the most technologically integrated
one in the world. Built from the ground up to be a
highly connected, integrated, state-of-the-art city
infrastructure for an initial population of 70,000, it
covers nearly 1,500 acres of land reclaimed from
the Yellow Sea and took a decade to create. The
concept was that it would be a completely sustainable,
high-tech city designed for a future without cars or
pollution, and without overcrowded spaces. It also
sought to represent South Korean advancements in
technology and infrastructure.
To accomplish these goals, some of the world’s most
advanced technologies, many using satellite data,
were utilized. The streets that connect the district

There are varying numbers of smart cities across the globe. Smart City Tracker 3Q221 suggests
that there have been 1,178 smart city projects between 2012 and 2022.
The global smart cities market size was valued at over US$1 billion in 2021 and is expected to
expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 24.2% from 2022 to 20302.

JANUARY 2023 13
are lined with sensors that measure energy use and
traffic flow as a means of quantifying sustainability. For
residents, trash tubes take rubbish away to a central
plant where it is automatically sorted into recyclables
and waste is burned. Homes are operated by mobile
apps that control everything from heating and air
conditioning to artificial light levels. However, residents
reportedly feel like the city was built for the technology
and find the city cold and heartless; it is therefore
critical that human factors are also taken into account
when designing our cities of the future.
NEOM in Saudi Arabia is a newer concept for the
‘city of tomorrow’, being built for the benefit of its
residents without compromising the health of the
planet. It is probably the most ambitious greenfield
smart city to date and still in the early planning stages.
It is designed as a 26,500km city with infrastructure
2
and services that preclude the need for private
vehicles and enable the rapid movement of goods and
services to anywhere in the city. Good broadband and
communication systems are crucial to its success.
The NEOM website quotes Joseph Bradley, NEOM
Technology & Digital CEO, as saying, “NEOM is not
about building a smart city, it is about building the first
cognitive city, where world-class technology is fuelled
with data and intelligence to interact seamlessly with
its population.”
14 OPENSPACE
As NEOM is built, the use of satellite data and its
spin-off technologies will no doubt be instrumental to
the success of this city and its surroundings.
Early adopters
In the last two decades, smart city initiatives have
ranged from improving digital technologies associated
with legacy infrastructures to increasing the
connectivity of its citizens.
Iconic smart cities projects include Singapore. Entirely
car-free, this eco-smart city has introduced a wide
range of smart technologies including a digital health
system and contactless payments. In Finland, Helsinki
is working towards reducing traffic emissions by 60%
and being carbon neutral by 2035. Since heating
accounts for more than half of Helsinki’s emissions,
the city is focussing on implementing energy-
efficiency measures during renovations, which could
reduce emissions from buildings by 80%, as well as
incorporating more renewable energy use in the city’s
buildings.
Amsterdam’s smart city project started in 2009 and
features more than 170 different operations, including
utilization of renewable energy for electric garbage
trucks, solar-powered bus stops, billboards and lights,
and energy-efficient roofing insulation.
Smart city challenges
The ambition for most smart cities is that they
will be sustainable, providing high quality and low
environmental impact living and working spaces.
To achieve this, a smart city must be able to
‘understand’ and manage the data that will make it
‘smarter’. This involves:
• Sensing and monitoring its Internet of Things
(IoT) systems to understand assets, emissions,
connections, land use, climate resilience, etc.
• Connectivity to move and manage the data for
analysis, and deliver it to where it is needed
• Understanding its assets to better manage them
• Connectivity to integrate services (integrated
transport, public services access, emergency
services, development of digital twins)
• Coordination between public and private sectors to
implement smart cities infrastructures
• Transparency and data privacy, and keeping its data
and its citizens cybersafe.
The initiatives being undertaken by cities aiming to
become smarter require space-based applications and
services covering data acquisition and provision of
resilient and responsive network infrastructures. Those
implementing smart cities face challenges around
collecting and processing data, and delivering it in a
timely manner to the decision-makers and systems
that can respond. A smart city requires ubiquitous and
JANUARY 2023
resilient connectivity to support transportation of the
data to the platforms that need it.
Many cities worldwide are aiming to become ‘smart’
and will have varying levels of legacy infrastructure
and gaps in connectivity and data availability. The
great benefit of space-enabled applications and
services is that a successful pilot in one region can
be ported to anywhere that is covered by the required
space services; increasingly, that will be anywhere in
the world for satellite communications, remote sensing
and navigation services.
COVID and smart cities
Increasing urbanization, the need for efficient
management of resource utilization, public safety
concerns and increasing demand for an environment
with efficient energy utilization are the major growth
drivers.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, countries followed
strict lockdowns and mobility constraints to avoid
the spread of the virus. During the pandemic, the
dependence of global economies on urban areas
and the importance of public healthcare in smart city
initiatives were brought to light. However, organizations
are trying to implement emerging technologies such
as IoT and artificial intelligence (AI) to overcome the
challenges faced during the pandemic.
15
Over 60% of the planet’s inhabitants
are expected to migrate to cities over
the course of the next generation, so
the transition to smarter cities and
communities is ever more urgent.
5G/6G communications
5G provides a significant technology step up for
smart cities. When launched in 2019, 5G was set to
revolutionize our world, providing connectivity up
to 1,000 times faster than 4G, ultra-low latency and
greater bandwidth for applications such as smart
cities. Services such as e-health and connected
vehicles and/or autonomous cars using connected
traffic systems would no longer be a future concept
but instead could become a present reality.
“We have not yet fully exploited the capacity of
5G,” advises Christine Leurquin, RHEA’s Director
of Strategy for European Institutions, Belgium and
Luxembourg. “Working in combination with terrestrial
networks, there are thousands of different applications
5G can be used for.
“Within many smart cities, the aim is to get seamless
integration of all networks into one network, combining
space and terrestrial, using radio frequency networks,
16 OPENSPACE
to bring users ubiquitous connectivity. Many of the
new communication constellations are now launched
in low Earth orbit (LEO) in S/L/K-band frequencies.
This is important to provide very low latency,
especially for autonomous cars and e-health services.”
Christine Leurquin continues: “5G is also helping to
alleviate ‘black holes’ around many cities and nations,
where 3G/4G struggled to support. 5G connectivity
is now providing the ability to connect far more
IoT devices than ever before and is an important
element of smart cities. And when 6G is available,
it will enhance these applications even further by
harmonizing the heterogenous satellite and terrestrial
communication networks’ capacities, reducing
latency still further, for instantaneous communications
between consumers, devices, vehicles and the
surrounding environment, and moving from gigabits
per second to terabits per second. But today, we
are still working on 5G and beyond; 6G is still a
way off.”
The importance of cybersecurity
Smart city technologies have large attack surfaces
that have a number of vulnerabilities, especially
in systems that contain legacy components using
old software that has not been regularly patched.
Technology solutions aim to use best practices to
mitigate these risks. These include:
• Cybersecure end-to-end encryption
• Securely isolating trusted resources from public
resources
• Installing different levels of security, including data
encryption, firewalls, authentication and access
rights management
• Putting in place sovereign solutions, adapted to
sovereign regulations, because they involve public
state solutions, to guarantee the technological
autonomy that is being implemented
• Ensuring that the city’s contracts contain
contractual cybersecurity clauses detailing the
distribution of responsibilities and obligations
between the partners.
Talking about the security of smart cities, Christine
Leurquin comments: “5G is now capable of connecting
billions of IoT devices, but this brings its own issues.
Cities need to make sure that each IoT device
collecting the data, the data it is collecting and the
data it transmits are all secure. Vulnerabilities can
be caused through the actions of individuals or
organizations, who can put an entire city at risk.
“Due to the reliance on various components
and communication technology, cybersecurity
challenges such as information leakage and malicious
cyberattacks will affect smart cities’ behaviour –
this could be the grid, one or more buildings, the
transportation system and/or the smart healthcare
system. In response to the growth of global smart city
technologies, cybersecurity must develop in the same
direction.”
Together with the EU Horizon Europe programme,
in particular the Smart Networks and Services Joint
“5G is helping to alleviate ‘black holes’ around many cities
and nations, where 3G/4G struggled to support.”
JANUARY 2023
Undertaking, RHEA is developing smart cybersecurity
capabilities that will reinforce both 5G terrestrial and
space segments against current and emerging cyber
threats and concerns.
Being smart
The concept of smart cities is relatively simple. A
smart city uses information and communication
technology (ICT) to improve operational efficiency,
share information with the public and provide a better
quality of government service and citizen welfare. We
are now living in an era where over 60% of the planet’s
inhabitants are expected to migrate to cities over the
course of the next generation, so the transition to
smarter cities and communities is ever more urgent.
Smart cities are therefore becoming smarter through
necessity. They have the ability to create safe and
sustainable environments that are centred around
the wellbeing of their inhabitants, through the use of
technologies focusing on accessibility, transportation,
improved healthcare, reduced waste and improved
social and economic quality. The technology to
support these activities is there; now it is up to those
planning and developing these cities to make them
safe, smart and sustainable for their citizens. n
Sources
1. Guidehouse Insights; Smart City Tracker 3Q22
2. Grand View Research; Smart Cities Market Size,
Share & Trends Analysis Report, 2022-2030
17
 © CNES/MARTIN Emmanuelle

18
OPENSPACE
France in Space:
Challenges and Prospects
As a space power on a European and global scale, France has a dynamic, innovative
and diversified space ecosystem. It has world leaders in the fields of launchers
and satellites, and a booming downstream sector, driven in particular
by the rise of New Space players. OpenSpace looks at the status of
the French space sector and its prospects.

France is one of Europe’s leading space nations.

© SEREB
Internationally, it is the largest contributor to the
European Space Agency (ESA)1 and has the fourth
largest budget for space programmes globally after the
USA, China and Japan2. At national level, through its
space agency, the National Centre of Space Studies
(CNES), France is adapting and developing new
approaches and tools to: understand current economic
and technological dynamics in the space domain;
support newcomers; and fuel strategic thinking to meet
Preparation of France's first satellite, Astérix, 1965.
the major challenges of tomorrow’s space sector.
CNES to support the country in its ambitions around
France is also pressing ahead with cutting-edge space by coordinating programmes and distributing
space technology developments, such as secure tasks between scientific organizations and industry.
telecommunications satellites, as the launch of the
new generation Syracuse 4A satellite demonstrates. The beginning of the French space adventure was
France is set to play a leading role with its European marked by the Diamant-A launcher programme,
partners in future space programmes in which which was supposed to “allow France to enter the
cybersecurity will play a key role. international game”, as Pierre Auger, the first President
of CNES, explained. On 26 November 1965, this
French space policy rocket placed France’s first satellite, Astérix, into
Convinced that technology is where a country’s orbit, propelling France to the rank of the world’s third
power lies, in the early 1960s the French Government largest space power.
decided to invest massively in ambitious technological
projects – supersonic aviation, nuclear power, Sixty years later, France is a leading player in space on
electronics and space – in order to compete with other a global scale and the Ariane family of rockets, whose
major powers, in particular the USA and Soviet Union. maiden flight took place on 24 December 1979, is
In December 1961, the French government created today a central pillar of Europe’s space programme.

JANUARY 2023 19
European ambitions
CNES is a public industrial and commercial body. It
is responsible for shaping and implementing French
space policy through public procurement, in five main
areas:
• Launchers
• Science
• Earth observation
• Telecommunications
• Defence.
Every 5 years, the French Government sets new
objectives for CNES through a Contract of Objectives
and Performance (COP), which sets the course for
CNES's strategy.
This year, the French Government and CNES signed
the COP 2022-2025, which covers a period of major
change for the space sector. Entitled 'New Spaces',
the COP 2022-2025 is based on four strategic pillars:
sovereignty, i.e. the strategic autonomy of France
and Europe; scientific cooperation, which contributes
to France's influence; climate issues; and economic
competitiveness, by integrating new players to
strengthen the competitiveness of the French space
industry.
In 2022, CNES had a global budget of €2,566 million,
distributed across five areas:
• Contribution to ESA: €1,184 million
• National programme: €740 million
• Future investment programme (PIA): €29 million
• Recovery plan: €55 million
• Own resources: €558 million.
2022 budget contributions
by country1.
Total: €4.81 billion
Overall ESA activities and
programmes budget: €7.15 billion
20
CNES’s contribution to ESA is its largest budget
item; in 2022 it yet again made France the largest
contributor to ESA, representing 25% of the total
contributions from Member States, ahead of Germany
(21%) and Italy (14%).
© CNES/Distribution Airbus DS
Pléiades satellite image of the city of Nangis, France.
A diversified space ecosystem
The French Government's investment in the space
sector generates significant economic spin-offs,
measurable in particular by the number of jobs
created. According to a September 2022 study
carried out jointly by CNES and Institut national de
la statistique et des études économiques (French
National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies,
INSEE), there were over 1,700 companies in the French
space sector in 2020, employing over 33,000 people
dedicated to space activities3. In addition there are the
downstream players (around 15 emerge each year),
scientific laboratories, the academic sector and finally
institutional bodies. In total, more than 70,000 people
in France work in the space sector.
France 24.5%
Germany 21.1%
Italy 14.1%
UK 9.1%
Belgium 5.0%
Spain 4.6%
Others 21.6%
OPENSPACE
 © CNES/ThalesAleniaSpace/Henri Serge
The CNES/INSEE study 3 classifies the actors of the French
space ecosystem into four categories:

The space industry, directly involved in the manufacture of space

systems (launchers, satellites and associated test facilities,
equipment, software for onboard systems, design offices, etc.)

33,200 dedicated jobs

Downstream players in the space sector, which offer services

derived from space technologies such as agriculture, health,
transport and mobility, connectivity and resource management

29,000 direct jobs

Scientific laboratories that advance research in the space

sector – 154 laboratories; 600 teams; 200 doctoral students;

3,000 direct jobs

The academic sector; 50

specialized ‘space’ courses

2,400 students

Institutional bodies (ministries, regions,

competitiveness clusters, public centres, etc.)

5,000 people.

The French Government's investment in the space sector

generates significant economic spin-offs. Today, more
than 70,000 people in France work in this sector.

JANUARY 2023 21

Launch Vehicle Adapter, Ariane 6.
The CNES/INSEE study also revealed that the 60 or
so companies active exclusively in space account
for almost three-quarters of the sector’s turnover of
€10.8 billion. Most of these ‘pure’ players are historical
partners of CNES, but the other players that have
diversified into space activities to find new sources of
growth are less well known.
In order to better identify these newcomers and to
deepen its knowledge of the global space ecosystem,
in March 2020, CNES created the Observatoire
d’économie spatiale (Space Economy Observatory) –
an organization unique in Europe.
“What motivated the creation of this observatory,”
explains Murielle Lafaye, Deputy Director of the Space
Economy Observatory, “was first of all the need to
know the economic sectors that are promising for the
future so that French companies can be in a leading
position. For this, we need to know the context, the
players and the markets. Also, we need detailed
knowledge of our ecosystem in order to advise the
Government and understand the impact of its actions
and investments in the space sector.”
The budgetary effort made by the French Government
in recent years to develop the space sector is
significant – and increasing. At the International
Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Paris in September
2022, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne
announced the Government's intention to invest
22 OPENSPACE
© CNES/ESA/Aianespaxe/Optique Video CSG/P Baudon
€9 billion in the space sector over the next 3 years – a
formidable ambition for France, and also for Europe.
Meeting tomorrow's challenges
France's stated ambitions in space are necessary
to meet the many challenges of tomorrow: mini
launchers, satellite constellations, quantum
communications, in-orbit servicing, space surveillance
and space exploration (France is a signatory of the
Artemis agreements).
“France's objective is to be present in all the major
technological challenges of the coming years, to take
advantage of the experience, skills, know-how and
industrial and academic resources available in France,
which is already a world leader in some of these areas,
and also to bring on board new entrants,” confirms
Jean-Marc Astorg, Director of Strategy at CNES.
The CNES Space Economy Observatory will be able
to provide the space ecosystem with “knowledge
and information to feed our collective intelligence
on current and future developments, and prepare
strategically for the future,” says Murielle Lafaye of the
Space Economy Observatory.
This is particularly true given that the French space
sector is undergoing a profound transformation
with the arrival of new players – so-called New
Space companies – that are revolutionizing ways of
working. “There is a real dynamic around New Space
in France,” explains Jean-Marc Astorg from CNES.
“There are about 2,000 New Space employees. At
CNES, this represents about one request per week for
support.”
CNES has set up a committee of newcomers which
selects start-ups to be supported according to certain
criteria. “Around two out of three applicants are
supported by CNES with technical assistance, transfer
of intellectual property, provision of test facilities or
contacts with relevant institutional or private partners,”
adds Jean-Marc Astorg.
One example of these ambitious newcomers is
the start-up Prométhée, created in 2020 by two
former employees from Safran and ArianeGroup.
It positions itself as the “New Space operator for
Earth observation,” explains Giao-Minh Nguyen,
Co-Founder and Managing Director. “Our goal is
to democratize the use of satellite imagery for a
safer and more sustainable world,” he adds.
Prométhée has a dual strategic and
environmental intelligence offering, including an
intuitive digital platform allowing users to acquire
near real-time data. In future, its database will be
fed by its own space infrastructure, with plans
for 20 nanosatellites in orbit by 2025, which will
allow it to offer an optimized revisit frequency
and thus meet users' current needs.
Cybersecurity and space
The digitalization of the services offered by the
New Space players highlights a key aspect of any
space mission: data integrity and, more globally,
cybersecurity. “The satellites that are being launched
to form large connectivity architectures are themselves
becoming connected, and should therefore be
considered as part of a large IT system,” notes CNES’s
Jean-Marc Astorg.
In this field, France has a trump card to play in
Europe. In the field of telecommunications, the
French Syracuse military communications satellites,
designed to provide the secure telecommunications
needed to conduct military operations on national
JANUARY 2023
territory or in external operations, have been protected
against numerous threats for a very long time. The
two new generation satellites, Syracuse 4A and 4B,
have enhanced capacities and an even higher level of
security.
“These are the most secure satellites ever built in
Europe,” says Jean-Pierre Diris, Deputy Director
for Telecommunications and Navigation Projects,
Search and Rescue and Action in Space, and France’s
representative to the European Commission for the
GOVSATCOM programme.
France is playing a leading role in Europe today
because it has always been confronted with this
safety issue. “There has always been a central
security department at CNES, and for projects under
development, a security architect is systematically put
in touch with the project manager when security rules
are applicable.
“In any military or dual-use space infrastructure, the
security of information systems has always been a
key element in preventing any intrusion into military
networks. The on-board ground link, which allows
telemetry and remote control of the satellite, is also
secured to avoid any loss of control of the satellite.”
At a time when the European Union is launching the
development of a sovereign constellation of secure
telecommunications satellites, France, with its wealth
of experience and solid technical expertise, has,
more than ever, a major role to play in supporting
European space ambitions. Its knowledge of the space
ecosystem, thanks in part to the Space Economy
Observatory created by CNES, enables a deep
understanding of current market dynamics and the
needs of players to support their growth. This is all
valuable data for European decision-makers in
setting up major space programmes and associated
funding. n
Sources
1. European Space Agency;
www.esa.int/About_Us/Corporate_news/Funding
2. Euroconsult; Government Space Programs report; 2021
expenditure
3. INSEE; 2022; www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/6525061
23
“Carrying out cyberattacks is now effectively a business
in its own right and cyber terrorism is acknowledged as
a component of war and conflict.”

24 OPENSPACE
The Evolution of
Cybersecurity Services
In the 2020s, businesses and nations have become so dependent on information
and operational technology (IT and OT) that any interruptions to services can
have huge consequences. At the same time, carrying out cyberattacks is now
effectively a business in its own right and cyber terrorism is acknowledged as a
component of war and conflict. How, then, are cybersecurity services evolving to
tackle this new normal?

Every business, from small companies to multinational

corporates, relies on some form of computing and
communications infrastructure. Whether it is a mobile
phone that allows a driver to navigate from A to B, or
a global IT network enabling cross-border networking,
IT provides a necessary foundation for business in the
2020s. Governments and institutions are also reliant
on a multitude of IT systems, for their internal critical
operations as well as for services that citizens rely on
every day, such as healthcare and transport.

Unfortunately, in parallel with our growing dependence

on IT, the world of cybercrime has expanded and
become more capable. This means cybersecurity can
no longer be considered as a ring-fenced activity,
with both infrastructure providers and organizations
needing to evolve their approach.
“Carrying out cyberattacks has become a business
now. Ten years ago it was largely people having fun
and showing off what they could hack. Now it is an
organized business, with people producing malware
and ransomware – and the more money they get,
the more they attack,” says Pascal Rogiest, Acting
Managing Director of RHEA Group's Cybersecurity
Division and Chief Strategy Officer. “Then there is the
tactical side, which is a real concern. Cyber terrorism
has peaked since the start of the conflict in Ukraine
and is now recognized as another key facet of war.”
Changes over the last few years have prompted
responses at all levels, including from the European
Union (EU). But this is no longer just an IT issue – with
everyone being a target, we all need to be given the
knowledge and tools to respond and protect ourselves
and others.

JANUARY 2023 25
What is at risk?
It is natural that as IT services and solutions evolve,
so too must cybersecurity. But the last few years have
seen specific changes that have heightened the need
for cybersecurity, and raised awareness around it.
“Digital transformation was already underway in
Europe, but the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated
digitalization and the faster adoption of new
technologies, for instance to enable people to work
remotely. In addition, the geopolitical situation has
changed in Europe; there has been a pressing
need to increase European strategic autonomy and
digital sovereignty, which further intensified due to
the situation in Ukraine,” says Roberto Cascella,
Head of Sector, Technology, Supply Chain and
Strategic Autonomy at the European Cyber Security
Organisation (ECSO).
“The digitization of different processes within
organizations and therefore the use of ICT solutions
has opened up new attack surfaces. For example,
there has been an increase in attacks related to supply
chains because of the integration of components,
software and hardware from different sources and
different vendors. If there is a vulnerability in any one
of those, its impact may propagate quickly, provoking
massive resilience consequences.”
The statistics around cybersecurity do not make for
comfortable reading. One multinational study reported
that the number of breaches rose 20.5% from 2020
to 2021 . Worryingly, in the same report, 29% of chief
1
executive officers (CEOs) and 40% of chief security
officers (CSOs) admitted that their organizations
were unprepared for the rapidly changing threat
landscape, with the highest levels reported in critical
infrastructure sectors (healthcare 35%, public sector
34%, telecommunications 31% and aerospace and
defence 31%).
The conflict in Ukraine that started in February 2022
put the issue of cybersecurity firmly on the political
26
35%
Healthcare
Public sector 34%
Telecommunications 31%
Aerospace
and defence 31%
agenda. Many countries already had cyberattacks
on their national risk registers, but the publicity
surrounding the cyberattacks by Russia on Ukraine
made it clear that this is now likely to be a factor in any
future conflict and that levels of cybersecurity need
to at least match, if not exceed, the predicted levels
of threat, as well as taking into account all possible
methods of attack.
“Cyber terrorism encompasses different kinds of
attacks,” says RHEA's Pascal Rogiest. “You can attack
to take control, for example of an infrastructure or
operations. Or you can attack to interrupt provision
of a service, or to steal data. Depending on what you
are attacking, the consequences can be major, which
is why more and more countries are adding cyber
elements into their defence organizations.”
One further aspect is our increasing reliance on space
systems. Historically most cybersecurity practices
have been focussed on traditional commodity
technologies evident in terrestrial infrastructures.
In the past, threats to space-based systems were
split off from traditional technologies, using bespoke
protocols, for example. But they now face cyber
threats as well as threats from electronic warfare and
jamming, for example, putting critical satellite-based
services at risk for the whole of society. Securing
space-based assets is vital as this too counts as
critical infrastructure.
The implication of the changes in the cyberattack
landscape is that the response cannot remain static.
This was expressed succinctly in a keynote address
at a Gartner Security & Risk Management Summit in
OPENSPACE
June when Richard Addiscott, Gartner Senior Director
Analyst, said: “We cannot fall into old habits and try to
treat everything the same as we did in the past. Most
security and risk leaders now recognize that major
disruption is only one crisis away. We cannot control
it, but we can evolve our thinking, our philosophy, our
programme and our architecture.”2
Zero trust
One of the clearest shifts in the cybersecurity
landscape is the focus on digital trust. When an
organization can trust the cybersecurity of its
partner, they can then trust that partner and its data.
Importantly, users need to be able to trust not just the
final information they receive, but every aspect of the
whole lifecycle right the way back to the original data,
which places a heavy emphasis on the security of all
links in the value or supply chain.
This implies the need for an appropriate ‘zero trust’
approach, based on the assumption that regular
verification and authentication of someone’s identity
is key to effective cybersecurity. To achieve this,
an organization needs to have a clear view of its
architecture, users and devices, of both the services it
is offering and the data it is handling, and of the digital
identity of its stakeholders.
JANUARY 2023
Understanding users has multiple facets: for
example, are they employees, contractors or external
freelancers? Are they new or have they moved from
another department? And is there a process in place
to deal with user accounts when someone leaves?
What is a normal user profile in terms of the data they
handle and how should that be customized for each
individual? How should security be adapted according
to where each user is working?
This emphasis on users is central to the evolution of
cybersecurity services, which should have the user
at the centre. Human error is consistently blamed
for cybersecurity and data breaches – depending on
which report you read, it is the cause of 88% to 95%
of breaches3. Adopting the most suitable cybersecurity
tools and procedures for your organization is clearly
important, but everyone needs to know how to use
them in order not to disrupt the business.
Effective implementation of a zero trust architecture
also relies on effective risk assessments and
risk management. Close cooperation between
cybersecurity teams and other teams within the
business is important to understand which business
processes should be improved to mitigate risks
and implement the most appropriate strategies.
27
Cybersecurity cannot be a pillar among others in an
organization: it is a horizontal function that is vital for
all operational pillars.
Business response
Many businesses have either been attacked or seen
others attacked, but no organization’s situation or
status is the same.
“From a business standpoint, almost all companies
now realize that they need to be prepared for
cyberattacks and address their level of cybersecurity,”
says Pascal Rogiest. “Some are reacting because they
are anticipating threats, some because they have seen
suppliers or companies similar to themselves being
attacked, and others because they themselves have
been attacked.
“However, the level of maturity across business is very
varied. The financial sector and mobile operators,
for example, are typically mature in their approach.
On the other hand, there are businesses in the
manufacturing sector that have operated in the same
way for decades. Their exposure to the outside world
is now growing due to use of the internet to connect
and monitor their operations, but if they have limited
budgets and time available to devote to cybersecurity,
their level of protection can be relatively low. That said,
every organization is different.”
“We want to equip organizations and citizens to be fit for the
digital age and to be able to manage digital transformation.”
28
Importantly, businesses do not need to address this in
a vacuum. In Europe, for example, the non-profit
ECSO covers the entire European cybersecurity
ecosystem: suppliers, manufacturers, users and
operators of infrastructures and essential services,
investors, research and technology organizations and
academia. Its 270-plus members include businesses
of all sizes, from small and medium-sized enterprises
(SMEs) to large companies and, despite being a
private sector association, some national public
administrations.
“We try to bring together the community at large
to work together on joint initiatives and solutions –
effectively anything that we can do to boost cyber
resilience,” explains Nina Olesen, Head of Sector,
Applications and Human Factors, ECSO.
“We want to equip organizations and citizens to be
fit for the digital age and to be able to manage the
digital transformation of our economy and society.
We aim to help them respond to the increasing needs
we see in the cybersecurity domain, be they from
a technological, human resources or operational
perspective. We also aim to bring the needs of
industry and the private sector – and the cybersecurity
field as a whole – to the attention of European
institutions when they are drafting strategies and
regulations.”
OPENSPACE

ECSO has six Working Groups covering the
cybersecurity spectrum:
• Standardization, Certification and Supply
Chain Management
• Market Deployment, Investments and
International Collaboration
• Cyber Resilience of the Economy,
Infrastructure and Services
• Support to SMEs, Coordination with
Countries and Regions
• Skills and Human Factors
• Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda
(SRIA) and Cyber Security Technologies
The inclusion of a Working Group focussing on people
is deliberate, and not just to plug the gap in the
numbers of traditional cybersecurity experts.
“With the digital transformation that is happening and
the evolution of cybersecurity services, we are seeing
not only an increasing need for cybersecurity experts
but also a need for different kinds of experts,” says
ECSO’s Nina Olesen.
“It is no longer sufficient to simply have a technical
background. We also need experts with other types
of profiles, such as those with backgrounds in law,
maths, psychology, social sciences or cryptography. In
5 years’ time there will be job roles in cyber that we do
not know of yet. In addition, cybersecurity needs to be
JANUARY 2023
embedded more within disciplines, so we can build the
workforce in a versatile and diverse way to respond to
the different needs we will be seeing.
“There is a misconception that cybersecurity is purely
a technology domain. It is, in that we need people with
technical expertise, but we also need those with other
competences. It is important for organizations to adapt
how they recruit and hire experts, and that we foster
new roles to match how services are evolving and the
digital transformation more widely.”
Cyber-range role
One of the approaches championed by ECSO for
addressing issues around competences, upskilling
and recruitment is using a cyber-range. This provides
an environment where an organization can create
a simulation of its IT environment and use that
for applications as varied as testing, training and
education, both for experienced cybersecurity staff
and for those who need upskilling and/or awareness
of cybersecurity issues and general good practice
around using IT. Carrying out training and testing in a
simulation protects the live environment.
Among the elements that may be simulated are IT,
OT, mobile and physical systems, applications and
infrastructures, and the effects of any external services
that might have an impact. A comprehensive solution,
such as RHEA’s cyber-range, based on the CITEF
platform, can be said to provide a true emulation of an
organization’s environment – referred to by some as a
digital twin – with even more powerful outcomes.
29
“What is great about cyber-ranges is that they are
a very agile and effective means of addressing a
number of use cases, beyond traditional technical and
red-blue team exercises,” says ECSO’s Nina Olesen.
“You can use them for recruitment, to train and upskill
staff, to test the capabilities of your experts and to
keep security operations centre (SOC) analysts up
to date with the latest trends, complementing formal
certification with regular, recurrent training.”
ECSO has recently produced a Cyber Range Features
Checklist that can be used by organizations to identify
4
and distinguish between platform offerings, and by
providers when preparing tenders.
Technology innovation
ECSO also works on a number of activities relating to
technology priorities and challenges, with the concept
of achieving and then supporting a cyber-resilient
Europe, according to ECSO’s Roberto Cascella. In
2020, ECSO published a series of priorities linked
to the EC’s Horizon Europe and Digital Europe
programmes. “The idea is to develop a comprehensive
cybersecurity strategy to build this cyber-resilient
ecosystem, and protect our industrial sectors and
citizens.”
Roberto Cascella continues: “Recently we have been
working on updating the priorities because of all the
geopolitical, economical, societal and technological
30
changes. In terms of technologies such as robotics,
artificial intelligence, 6G, edge computing and
quantum, we are looking at the new cybersecurity
challenges they bring and trying to understand the key
priorities for European investment.”
RHEA’s Pascal Rogiest sees innovation as both
an opportunity and a challenge for cybersecurity:
“Technology innovation is a game changer, with
implications both on the defensive and attacking sides.
Automation and artificial intelligence, for example, will
let systems react or learn by themselves, but it will
play on both sides of the fence. Accelerated innovation
in cybersecurity brings yet another level of challenge in
the digital safety picture, as it triggers a constant race
between offensive means and protection capabilities.
“And then there is quantum, which paves the way to
next generation cybersecurity. Quantum computers
will be thousands of times more powerful than
the computers we know today and when they are
commercially available, they will pose a big threat to
the existing wide-spread cryptographic protection of
today’s systems, cracking them in seconds. Equally,
quantum can help us improve our cybersecurity by
distributing much longer keys and distributing them
in quantum states using quantum key distribution
(QKD). There is a lot of investment happening in
Europe on secure connectivity, including the EuroQCI
programme. After a long period of related R&D,
OPENSPACE
the time is coming for operational implementation
of QKD: this is what RHEA is leading within an
international consortium and in cooperation with the
European Space Agency (ESA), for demonstrating
QKD applicability in protecting existing operational IT
systems, applications and communication networks.”

European response
The EU response to the evolving cyber threat
landscape has been broad. The first piece of EU-
wide legislation on cybersecurity was the Directive
on Security of Network and Information Systems (NIS
Directive), which came into force in 2016. This has
since been the subject of a review and a proposal for
a revised NIS Directive (NIS2) to strengthen security
requirements, address security in supply chains,
streamline reporting obligations and introduce
more stringent supervisory measures and stricter
enforcement requirements. The aim is that by obliging up from €125.5 billion in 2020. Securing the new
more entities and sectors to take measures, it will hybrid workplace, tackling the persistent ransomware
increase levels of cybersecurity in Europe. The NIS2 challenge, mitigating supply chain risk and adopting
Directive is expected to come into force in the next few zero trust approaches will all drive growth in spending.5
months.
This is good news, as is the fact that cybersecurity
Another example is the Horizon 2020 ECHO project solutions have evolved, and will continue to do so
– the European Network of Cybersecurity Centres in an endeavour to match the constantly changing
and Competence Hub for Innovation and Operations. cyber threat landscape. This, in itself, is not enough,
Its main objective is to strengthen the EU’s cyber however. Cybersecurity needs to be part of an
defences through multi-sector and multi-domain organization’s overall philosophy so that it can be an
collaboration by developing a European cybersecurity invisible bodyguard. Users need to be at the centre
ecosystem. RHEA cybersecurity experts are among of the process, not treated as the problem. There is
those working on ECHO projects, such as authoring technology to support this in the form of cyber-ranges,
research publications and implementing sector- which can be adapted to address so many aspects
specific scenarios using RHEA’s cyber-range. relating to cybersecurity, including training and
education. The onus now is on organizations to adapt
A further illustration is IRIS , the satellite
2
to a new way of working that puts cybersecurity centre
communications sovereign European constellation, stage, not siloed in the IT department. Because the
recently announced by EU Commissioner Thierry overall goal is for everyone to feel and rely on digital
Breton, which will aim to provide secured traditional trust. n
and quantum communications throughout the EU.

Sources
Securing the future
1. ThoughtLab; Cybersecurity Solutions for a Riskier World;
Organizations are clearly taking cybersecurity 2022
seriously. Estimates of global cybersecurity spending 2. https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2022-
06-21-gartner-unveils-the-top-eight-cybersecurity-predictio
vary, but all agree it is growing fast: one report, for
3. Stanford University; IBM
example, predicts it is set to grow by nearly 58% 4. Available from www.ecs-org.eu
over the next few years to reach €198 billion by 2025, 5. GlobalData; April 2022

JANUARY 2023 31
CubeSats © CubeMAP consortium

Significant interest and support from private

financiers has created a surge in the growth
of the global New Space market.

32 OPENSPACE
Growth of the New Space
Market
While traditional and established space organizations continue to grow, a new
generation of entrepreneurs and private companies are disrupting the space
ecosystem. These small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are developing
novel approaches to areas such as miniaturization, commercial off-the-shelf
products, reusability, automation, massive and global deployment and big data
analytics. OpenSpace spoke to CEOs from European New Space organizations
to uncover their experiences in this new, exciting and growing market.

The New Space market is being driven by private

organizations, small and nano-satellite manufacturers,
instrument makers, service providers, data scientists
and satellite operators, leading the way to a different
direction of developing the space market. Until
recently many private organizations struggled to raise
funding, often with only government support available.
However, there is now significant interest and support
from private financiers willing to invest in the space
sector. This has created a surge in the growth of the
global New Space market, which is valued at around
US$423 billion1 and projected to grow at a compound
annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.97% from 2020 to
2026 2.

Traditional industry, academic and governmental

organizations still have an important role to play in
the changing space market, but the interest and
investment from private investors, entrepreneurs
and technology pioneers has driven forward new
technologies that are more agile and less complex,
offering easier access to space and more cost-
effective downstream solutions for end-users.
Driving the space economy boom
Our ongoing reliance on space is helping to accelerate
the space economy, with climate change, space
security, orbital debris mitigation, telecoms and
investment being five of the main game changers.

JANUARY 2023 33
Tackling climate change is one of the key drivers for the changing space sector.
Investment
Since the COVID pandemic, the space sector has
attracted the biggest private investment in space to
date, with capital and infrastructure deriving from
multiple sources. Commercial New Space
organizations are focussing on a range of markets
including telecoms and Earth observation, ploughing
billions of dollars into low Earth orbit (LEO)
constellations that will provide better, cheaper, quicker
broadband and Internet of Things (IoT) services.
Climate change
Monitoring our changing climate is widely supported
by data from the Copernicus programme and other
national and international initiatives, helping to
observe greenhouse gas emissions, rising sea levels
and melting ice caps, as well as predicting weather
patterns. The wealth of data now available provides
scientists, researchers, governments and private
organizations with the information to help them make
“The New Space era has changed the space sector landscape
dramatically, bringing new ideas, adapting proven technologies
and benefiting from being small and agile.”
34
more informed decisions, such as helping utilities to
optimize renewable energy infrastructures, finance/
insurance firms to predict natural disasters, or
shipping companies to avoid stormy waters.
Orbital debris
Orbital debris, which is predominantly made up of
spent rockets and defunct satellites, is a major issue
for the space sector. Globally we have launched over
6,250 rockets, placing around 13,630 satellites3 into
orbit, many of which are now obsolete and breaking
up into pieces as they continue to orbit the Earth. Even
a fleck of paint 2cm in diameter from one of these can
cause damage to a functioning satellite.
In the near future, thousands of small satellites are
planned for launch each year from new spaceports
around the world. Commercial New Space players are
now leading the market in creating innovative solutions
to remove some of the hazardous debris.
OPENSPACE
Telecoms
Telecommunications has historically been the
most profitable industry for European satellite
manufacturers, representing more than 60% of
satellite activities in Europe. Mobile satellite services
are constantly evolving and new systems are being
launched by New Space players to provide internet
access and IoT connectivity via satellite, with the
next generation of multi-spot Ka-Band satellites
bringing about more efficient delivery, improving
price-performance as well as offering larger
capacities.
Space security
Satellites are increasingly important for everyone,
from individuals to nation states. As a result, keeping
satellites, data and infrastructure safe is critical. With
space becoming a hot target for cybercriminals, the
European Space Agency (ESA) is investing in a Cyber
Safety and Security Operations Centre (C-SOC)
and Security Cyber Centre of Excellence (SCCoE)
to provide a cybersecurity backbone and unique
capability for its Member States. Private organizations
also need to protect their infrastructures and data, as
satellite data is a growing target for cybercriminals.
New Space players
“Historically, the traditional space sector was mainly
led by national and international institutes, with
large corporates dominating the commercial market.
Small- to medium-sized enterprises were mainly
supporting government initiatives implemented by
large national ‘primes’ and their ability to grow was
marginal,” explains Michel Bosco, RHEA’s Chief
European Institutions Officer. “But the New Space
era has changed the space sector landscape quite
dramatically, bringing new ideas, adapting proven
technologies and benefiting from being small and
agile, enabling them to move faster.
“Funding opportunities are now accessible. National
and international agencies have created more
investment programmes, providing 50-100% funding,
depending on the project. Venture capitalists are
now putting money into the space sector, with some
initiatives receiving multi-million investment support
from governments and private investors.”
JANUARY 2023
New Space players are providing IoT connectivity via satellite.
One notorious example of a New Space organization
is OneWeb, a company created to provide a global
communications network, powered by a constellation
of 648 LEO satellites. Founded in 2012, OneWeb
launched its first satellite in 2019, but then entered
bankruptcy in March 2020 after it failed to raise the
requisite capital to complete the build and deployment
of the remaining 90% of its network. The company
was rescued by investors from across the globe,
including the UK Government, Indian multinational
company Bharti Global and Eutelsat Hughes Network
Systems, a global provider of satellite communications
and internet services. OneWeb is now set to merge
with Eutelsat.
Being agile
The majority of New Space companies do not
experience the same degree of financial support but
are still thriving.
Guillaume Tanier is Co-Founder and CEO of
Leanspace, a New Space company based in
Strasbourg, France, that was created in 2020 to
help satellite operators move to the cloud and better
leverage digital engineering and agile software for
ground segments, including operations and mission
planning, flight dynamics and ground station networks.
“Leanspace was a COVID baby!” he explains. “We
submitted the paperwork to create our company the
same day President Macron shut down all public
organizations due to COVID; a day earlier and we
35
would have been fine. Although delayed, we are doing
really well. We provide a software as a service (SaaS)
offering, which is a platform that enables customers
to build software for their own ground segments very
quickly.
“We do not provide custom-built solutions, or off-
the-shelf products; instead we provide technology
that offers users the ability to build themselves
the software they need, wherever they are. At this
stage, we are not targeting large institutions or big
corporates, but those within the emerging New Space
sector. But eventually, all companies will need to
drastically reduce costs, be more agile and leverage
such innovations.”
On the subject of agility, CEO of Infinite Orbits, Adel
Haddoud, advises: “Infinite Orbits was created in
2017 by students from Columbia University who
were looking at AI-powered technologies to allow
autonomous cars to be operated in a cost-effective
way. They then looked at how this could be developed
to work for spacecraft to let them navigate and
rendezvous in orbit, using vision-based navigation and
36
AI to recognize a spacecraft from stars and debris and
enable a space servicer to rendezvous with its target.
Our ability to be agile and innovate has enabled us to
take our company global and deliver the services our
customers need.”
Another viewpoint comes from Julie Duclercq, CEO
of TernWaves: “Our company was founded by three
engineers who have more than 80 years' cumulative
experience in telecommunications, having worked for
global companies such as Intel, Texas Instruments,
Infineon, NXP and Motorola. Together we have
developed a breakthrough in connectivity technology
that solves the problem of the capacity limitation of IoT
networks, which is crucial for the massive IoT market
in full growth.
“Our ‘Golden Modulation Technology’ was developed
over a few years, starting at the time when the New
Space sector took off, thanks to the development
of LEO satellites, which are inexpensive (unlike
geostationary satellites). Being small means we are
agile, and that has given us an advantage as we are
able to adapt to the market. Also, the IoT ecosystem
OPENSPACE
existed already, so there was no need to create a medium-term strategy to make money. This is why
new one – our technology is protocol-agnostic, so we New Space organizations have to be agile; they need
can integrate with current systems and leverage the to be profitable in a relatively short time to attract
existing IoT ecosystem.” funding.”

‘Ease’ of funding Romain Lucken, Co-Founder and CEO of Share

Being agile may be a benefit of being an SME in the
New Space market, but acquiring funding is still a
challenge.
“In the past few years, access to funding through
venture capital and private investors has become
easier, but not easy,” says Guillaume Tanier of
Leanspace. “There are always small amounts of
funding available through grants, competitions and
business incubators, but finding large sums through
private equity firms is hard work. We completed a few
rounds of pre-seed funding with business angels and
public funding. We recently raised €6 million through
venture capital firms, our solid commercial traction
and fast growth making it possible, but it was not easy.
Today there is more of an appetite from venture
capitalists to invest in space, but you must have a
good story, a good business plan and a short- to
My Space, comments: “Getting public subsidiaries
has been relatively easy, but a model has to be
demonstrated. From the start, Share My Space
made the choice to invest in our own infrastructure
and optics technology. Although our company was
founded in 2017, we waited 3 years before getting our
first round of funding. Today, space agencies are more
willing to support the New Space players. CNES was
our first client and we have worked with them for a few
years, but the government market is complicated and
as a new entrant it is not easy to be recognized.”
“In the last few years there have been two dedicated
space funds created in France, one being already very
active. Until 3 years ago, there was nothing dedicated
for space,” says Adel Haddoud from Infinite Orbits.
“Infinite Orbits received an initial accelerator fund and
is currently self-funded.”

“New Space organizations have to be agile and be

profitable in a relatively short time to attract funding.”
© Virgin Orbit

JANUARY 2023 37
Julie Duclercq of TernWaves adds: “We had to
personally finance two and a half years of development,
plus the patent, including the international extensions.
We were lucky enough to avoid fundraising so far to
ensure we focus 100% on our roadmap execution
without spending time being accountable and reporting
to investors. New Space is a race and we have to run
fast. Since winning several Innovation Awards
(Data & AI award by La Tribune, Defence Innovation
award at Eurosatory by GICAT), we have been
contacted regularly by venture capitalists.”
Collaboration
Do New Space companies find it easy to work with
large corporates or are they wary of losing their
intellectual property rights (IPR)?
“Before Leanspace, I worked in many of the big
corporates. Today we are working as partners with
some of the big software integrators. They are not
our competitors, nor our target audience. Several are
already using companies like Leanspace to bid for
work, leveraging the platform to be more competitive,
by being faster to deploy solutions and reducing risks,”
says Guillaume Tanier. “They do not see us as a threat
as we provide services to the New Space market. The
large organizations work differently, and it is extremely
hard to do something your business is not wired for. So
no, large corporates are looking to companies like us as
partners or suppliers.”
38 OPENSPACE
Infinite Orbits’ Adel Haddoud comments, “The big
organizations are our customers and we are very happy
to collaborate with them, although I am aware that you
have to be careful not to compromise your IPR.”
Julie Duclercq of TernWaves adds: “Space is
undergoing a profound transformation; it is no longer
the preserve of institutions. The entry ticket has
decreased so competition is coming, with more players
entering the market. TernWaves has built a solid
partnership with CNRS (French Centre of Research) and
asked their top experts to analyze and challenge our
technology. They published a very positive public report
on our technology, which is great support for us.”
The importance of cybersecurity
Traditional actors in the space ecosystem have hugely
improved the way they now face threats, individually or
collectively. In a recent manifesto ‘(Cyber)security in the
New Space’, RHEA’s Michel Bosco writes that “Until a
few years ago ‘patching’ existing systems and finding
ad hoc solutions was the best option to mitigate risks
within an organization, inherited from 70 years of space
programmes led by the public sector”.
He comments: “Security is usually not at the core
of an innovation project, and somehow it becomes
antagonistic to the essence and dynamism of the
actors of the New Space ecosystem; it bears a cost,
it moderates enthusiasm, it slows down a project.
But recent history shows that in space, it needs to be
considered in a very serious manner.
“Organizations now in the heart of New Space projects
need to avoid repeating history by taking threats into
account too late in the process of their projects. New
Space players need to address security concerns at the
very early stages, such as when defining the terms of
reference of a mission and designing the components
or the systems they intend to build or operate. Investors
should also be aware of the risks and require start-ups
to equip themselves with security tools and solutions,
or to be assisted in regard to assessing threats and
monitoring security and cybersecurity issues from the
moment they start investing.”
Guillaume Tanier of Leanspace agrees: “We see more
and more space companies being attacked, and the
numbers are going to grow because governments
now rely on the services provided by New Space
companies, such as communication services and
data, so they are a target. We take cybersecurity very
seriously and it is a value proposition we bring to the
table. Through its platform, Leanspace provides a layer
of security in the ground segment solution developed
by the customer, which is reliable and secure.
“The platform is cloud-native, it is backed up, made
available through strict service level agreements (SLAs)
and with high-availability commitments, so clients can
rely on the service and build their solutions on it.”
JANUARY 2023
Romain Lucken of
Share My Space adds,
“Cybersecurity is crucial; our
Chief Security Officer is high
up in our company’s hierarchy. We
are supported by cybersecurity experts
and all our data is secure and stored locally in France.
Today’s challenge is digitalization. Satellite operators
are now working from home on simple PCs, so we have
developed solutions that provide secure web-based
interfaces and we have to be very strict on service
continuity and resilience. Our roadmap for the future is
to deploy our ground stations everywhere around the
globe, so securing our data is imperative.”
Changing landscape
It is evident that New Space players are very
positive and excited about the future. Established
organizations and institutions still have an important
role to play in the future, but the new, more agile,
entrepreneurial organizations will play a driving part
in making space more accessible, providing more
downstream services and creating new technologies
that will aid humankind’s desire to explore, create,
understand and do things quicker. n
Sources
1. Statista; Global turnover of the space economy from 2009 to
2021
2. Global Market Estimates; Global New Space Market
3. European Space Agency; Space debris by numbers; updated
August 2022
39
New Space Players

“Today space debris is an economic and environmental

challenge and also an issue of sovereignty. Quality space
surveillance data is not a commodity, it is a scarce resource
that needs to be shared carefully, and protected
by best cybersecurity standards.”
Romain Lucken, CEO, Share My Space

Share My Space was founded in 2017 by Romain

Lucken, CEO, and Damien Giolito, COO. Based in
Paris and Toulouse, France, the company was born
out of a desire to make space more collaborative
and ensure that space belongs to everyone. Through
innovative thinking about how to make space more
sustainable, the company now detects space
objects using telescopes on the ground, combining The Share My
Space system
data to supply satellite and launcher operators with has four passive
telescopes that can
information on potential collisions.
each be controlled
independently.
Share My Space’s ambition is to become a European
leader in space surveillance and space operations of 50 by end of 2024, and then a continuous growth
security. It currently employs 20 staff, with an objective thanks to efficient partnerships.

the longest migration, can fly over very long distances

without losing their way among colonies of hundreds

“One of the biggest of individuals.

challenges for New Space TernWaves’ Golden Modulation Technology was

start-ups with a disruptive launched in 2021 to solve the problem of capacity

technology is credibility.”
Julie Duclercq, CEO, TernWaves
TernWaves was set up in 2018 by three co-founders
who have more than 80 years’ cumulative experience
in telecommunications. The company’s name was
inspired by arctic terns. These tiny birds, which have
limitation of satellites (LEO/MEO/GEO) and terrestrial
IoT networks, guaranteeing an ultra-high robustness
to interference and jamming (key for connectivity
resilience) with very low energy consumption.
The technology reaches the maximum theoretical
limit in terms of range and capacity, and allows
satellite operators to increase the capacity and the
competitiveness of their IoT networks.

40 OPENSPACE
 “Leanspace’s mission is to reduce the barrier to entry in the
space industry by making it easy for any space organization
to quickly set up the software infrastructure they need.
Ground segments of space missions must be agile, cost
effective and reliable.”
Guillaume Tanier, CEO, Leanspace
Space companies build software systems that run
their businesses from scratch, reinventing the wheel
each time, with no reuse between them. Legacy
technologies, manual data handling and costly
developments keep the industry fragmented and slow.
Leanspace was founded in 2020 by an international
team of space and cloud veterans, with an aim to
change that by providing the world’s first Platform-as-
“I liked the concept of what
Infinite Orbits was doing, so
I invested in the company
and then became the CEO.”
Adel Haddoud, CEO, Infinite Orbits
© ESA
JANUARY 2023
a-Service for space missions. The platform enables
companies to easily build digital, collaborative and
fully integrated software systems, empowering them to
streamline their business, reduce costs and increase
agility.
Leanspace is based in Strasbourg, France, and
currently employs 35 people.
Infinite Orbits was founded in 2017 by
telecommunication entrepreneurs and aerospace
engineers to provide reliable, turnkey, in-orbit services
to satellite operators and a business-driven approach
to life extension in geostationary orbit. Since 2021,
the company has been based in Toulouse, Occitanie,
the European capital of aeronautics and space, with
offices in Singapore and Silicon Valley, USA. Its first
launch was due in December 2022, and it then plans
to launch one satellite per year, providing in-orbit
servicing for existing satellites, which could extend a
satellite’s lifespan by 5 years.
41
42 OPENSPACE
The Role of Satellites in
Supporting Humanitarian Aid
As climate change increasingly leads to more frequent and extreme weather
events around the globe, satellite technology is being used before and after
humanitarian disasters, helping agencies plan for imminent crises, and
supporting response teams as they help those affected on the ground.

Between 2000 and 2019, there were 7,348 natural

disasters globally, according to the Centre for
Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters’
Emergency Events Database. These included flooding,
storms, earthquakes, heatwaves, wildfires, droughts,
landslides and volcanic activities, and represented a
74% increase on such events on the previous 20-year
period (1980-1999). Over 1.2 million people were killed
and just over 4 billion affected by the consequences,
such as homelessness and displacement.

Among the most severe natural disasters during

the past two decades have been the Indian Ocean
earthquake and tsunami of 2004, which killed over
220,000 people, the Haiti earthquake in 2010, which
took 150,000 lives, and Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar in
2008, which resulted in 140,000 deaths.
Today, the main satellite types – communications,
Earth observation (EO) and positioning, navigation
and timing (PNT) – play crucial roles, individually and
collectively, in helping us to anticipate humanitarian
disasters and respond to them in the immediate
aftermath with the provision of essential aid.
At a global level, the United Nations Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and
the Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC;
led by the World Food Programme) are committed to
improving the existing satellite-based response and
ability to act in times of disaster and humanitarian
crisis.
This commitment underpins OCHA’s first objective
to “alert and inform” in its role as the “nerve centre
of humanitarian aid”, providing the big picture view
of a crisis and mobilizing assistance to the affected
countries through a network of aid workers. Similarly,
the ETC uses its global network of organizations
to provide shared communications services in
humanitarian emergencies.

JANUARY 2023 43
© ESA–P. Carril
Rapid response
When earthquakes, flooding, hurricanes or tsunamis
occur, critical infrastructure gets seriously damaged
or broken. This is where satellite communications
are vital, since they enable secure communication in
remote places without land-based communications
channels.
“Satellites provide swift access to information
and enable coordination between governments,
international organizations, non-governmental
organizations and the international humanitarian
community before, during and after disasters,” explains
Christine Leurquin, RHEA Group’s Director of Strategy
for European Institutions, Belgium and Luxembourg.
“Since agencies and rescue teams must respond as
quickly and effectively as possible – often in remote
locations – they must be connected to each other
through effective satellites and readily accessible
communications ground equipment in order to be
able to activate the space-based communications
equipment.”
One such example is the mobile, satellite-based
telecoms platform Emergency.lu, set up by the
Luxembourg Government to respond immediately
under the terms of the United Nations’ Crisis
44
Connectivity Charter. With the
ability to deploy equipment and
personnel to an affected area within
12 hours, through use of a Learjet, the
platform re-establishes communications after
a disaster, supporting humanitarian organizations’
coordination efforts in the field and helping to save
lives.
Mapping the scene
Meanwhile, EO satellites provide imagery and
allow remote monitoring of people, objects and
environments. As a result, EO data underpins rapid
mapping services such as Copernicus Emergency
Management Services On-Demand Mapping, which
provides on-demand detailed information and imagery
for selected emergency situations arising from natural
or man-made disasters anywhere in the world.
New satellite maps of the area of interest can
be produced within hours or days of a disaster,
which is critical for the logistics of responding to a
humanitarian crisis.
Using pre- and post-disaster data, teams can
compare the versions and identify significant changes
to the ground or infrastructure in the impacted zone.
By identifying a collapsed bridge or flooding, rescue
teams then know how to move around the area,
OPENSPACE
taking into consideration all the impacted elements.
Through imagery, data and maps, disaster response is
therefore now much more efficient.
Data localization
Underpinning a range of humanitarian aid and
rescue services that serve public sector and private
organizations is PNT satellite technology, thanks to
its ability to track and trace people, vehicles and
resources.
One of the foremost examples of PNT satellite
technology is Galileo – the European Union’s (EU’s)
global navigation satellite system. Since becoming fully
operational in December 2016, the Galileo constellation
has transformed many aspects of our lives, including
responding to search and rescue (SAR) operations.
Thanks to the SAR/Galileo service, radio beacon
distress signals are relayed to SAR crews by means
of dedicated payloads on board Galileo satellites,
supported by three ground stations strategically
deployed across Europe.
This facility was extended further in January
2020, when the SAR/Galileo Return Link Service
(RLS) became operational. As a result, two-way
communication is possible, with Galileo locating the
people in distress and the RLS automatically notifying
JANUARY 2023
the user that their help request has been received. The
non-profit Cospas-Sarsat programme is a satellite-
based SAR distress alert detection and information
distribution system which also benefits from the SAR/
Galileo service.
Looking ahead, the EU and European Space Agency
(ESA) plan is for Galileo to deliver even more accurate,
robust and available PNT services, by supplementing
the satellites orbiting in medium Earth orbit with
additional constellations in low Earth orbit.
Galileo performance is further improved by the
European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service
(EGNOS), which acts as Europe’s regional satellite-
based augmentation system (SBAS) to improve the
performance of global navigation satellite systems. The
service has been active since 2005, and has steadily
increased its scope during the intervening years,
including being deployed to provide safety of life (SIL)
navigation services to aviation, maritime and land-
based users over most of Europe.
As part of EUSPA’s HARMLESS project – which aims
to promote the use of European GNSS in the areas of
emergency management, humanitarian aid and law
enforcement – EGNOS and Galileo will be enablers
of new applications at country and pan-European level.
45
It is not just in response to a disaster that satellite

© ESA from Copernicus Sentinel data

technology plays a crucial role; emergency warning
systems provide alerts about imminent disasters to the
local population, so they can take necessary action.

46 OPENSPACE
Early warning signs
It is not just in response to a disaster that satellite
technology plays a crucial role; emergency warning
systems (EWS) provide alerts about imminent
disasters to the local population, so they can take
necessary action.
One service currently in development, which RHEA is
involved with through its support to the EU Agency
for the Space Programme (EUSPA), is the Galileo-
based Emergency Warning Service. The project
assessed the feasibility of a Galileo-based EWS.
The conclusion of the project supported the decision
of the EU to implement a Galileo-based EWS on
Galileo first- and second-generation satellites, with
the EWS expected to be fully operational in 2024 on
the first-generation spacecraft. Cooperation activities
with Japan may lead to a common alert messaging
standard between Galileo and Quasi-Zenith Satellite
System, Japan’s satellite-based augmentation
system (SBAS).
This will be a major advance for anticipating and
dealing with a crisis. A good example would be to
imagine being somewhere where there is a risk of
tsunami. By receiving a localized warning, people
can be advised of the appropriate action to take to
remain safe.
Other applications of SBAS are already in place in
Africa, based on Europe’s EGNOS technology. In
September 2020, the Agency for Aerial Navigation
Safety in Africa and Madagascar began broadcasting
an SBAS over Africa and the Indian Ocean. Although
the programme’s main objective is to be a first step
towards providing robust navigation services for
the continent’s aviation sector, it is also intended to
demonstrate the benefits of the future safety-of-life
services planned for the region.
Continuing development activities
Looking to the future, organizations such as ESA
are working with international partners to develop
more ways for space technology to forecast, respond
to and manage humanitarian crises. Among these
activities is ESA’s flagship Civil Security from Space
(CSS) programme, which “proposes to be a federated
JANUARY 2023
solution interconnecting space and ground systems
and services, existing, planned and future”.
As part of this, an ESA Accelerator has been
established that is dedicated to developing intelligent
interconnectivity in space to empower rapid, resilient
responses to crises on Earth. Within this, RHEA is
leading the Rapid Resilient Response to Crises (R3)
Study focused on real-life cases where end-users
need timely information to adequately intervene in
case of a crisis, be it environmental, humanitarian,
industrial or chemical.
“Civil Security from Space, the precursor programme
to the R3 Accelerator, will bring together capacities
such as telecommunications, EO, ground and space
sensor networks and cloud data sources to ensure
rapid dissemination of information to civil security
crisis responders, anytime and anywhere needed.
The R3 study is one of the two preliminary studies
looking at concrete disaster solutions serving targeted
end-user cases, which will pave the way towards a
comprehensive toolkit enabling effective European
crisis response services,” explains Christopher
Topping, ESA lead of the Civil Security from Space
programme.
The R3 Study is just one of many examples of how
satellites will be vital for humanitarian efforts as
climate change leads to more extreme weather
events. The combination of satellite data and services
and close collaboration between space agencies,
institutions, businesses and other organizations will be
increasingly important to support those in need across
the globe in the coming decades. n
47
48 OPENSPACE
Digital Continuity – Towards
Engineering Utopia
A fully digital approach to engineering promises to
minimize errors and reduce costs. But just how far away
from true digital continuity are we? And how does that apply
when your end product takes years to design and build,
and flies thousands of kilometres above the surface of the
Earth? OpenSpace spoke to the European Space Agency’s
(ESA’s) Marcel Verhoef and independent consultant Hans
Peter de Koning to find out the current state of play.
Since the Industrial Revolution, businesses have
had to tackle the difficult task of how best to interact
with suppliers to make sure every component in their
final product fits and works well together. The more
complex the final product, the more complicated
that becomes. The Digital Revolution holds the
promise of an alternative solution to reams of paper
documentation, but industry still largely relies on
sharing documents, albeit in digital format.
Since the turn of the millennium, the concept of a
fully digitalized engineering process ‘from cradle to
grave’ has come more sharply into focus and has been
implemented successfully in a few select pockets
of industry in recent years. In the space domain, the
move towards digital continuity is being helped by
focussed activities by ESA and NASA, but the road is
long and steep, given how many players are involved
and the myriad software tools they use.
What is digital continuity?
When you are striving for a particular goal, it helps
if all those involved agree on it. In the case of digital
Satellite image: ESA's Planetary Transits and Oscillations of Stars (Plato) satellite. © ESA/ATG medialab
JANUARY 2023
continuity, a general definition is that it is about
being able to make digital information continuously
usable for as long as it is needed. But there is more
to it than that.
A more comprehensive description is that it is about
expressing the same information in ways that can
be understood and shared across the various
platforms and tools that are used by different
disciplines or domains in multiple organizations across
the entire lifecycle of a system. The information may
have to exist in different forms in multiple digital
systems so they can interoperate. And that means
switching from using a document-centric to a
model-centric approach.
In addition, digital continuity should, in theory,
cover the entire ecosystem within which a product
is designed, built, tested and operated. That means
it should include aspects such as the tendering
process, product and quality assurance, security,
risk assessment, systems operation and end of life
management.
49
The space sector is a good illustration of just how
complicated this can be and why, two decades into
the 21st century, many areas of industry have not yet
achieved digital continuity.
Take an ESA mission, for example. Its lifecycle has
seven phases, starting at phase 0, then phases A
to F, that cover everything from defining a mission,
including its function and requirements, through to
disposal. Each mission has to be designed with input
from multiple experts from different domains to meet
the requirements set out for it – a stage that happens
at ESA’s Concurrent Design Facility (CDF). Once the
feasibility of the mission is demonstrated and funding
is secured, the spacecraft will be built by industry, led
by the company responsible and involving its many
partners in the supply chain. It will then deliver the
spacecraft to the customer for launch and mission
operations. The design also addresses the disposal of
the spacecraft at the end of its life in order to prevent
space debris.
“A space mission can take 5 to 10 years from idea
to launch, so the expression of what it means to be
that space mission needs to be carried over for all
that time, with the data exchanged between multiple
organizations that need to cooperate at various stages
along the way,” notes Sam Gerené, Competence Area
Lead Concurrent Design and MBSE (model-based
system engineering) at RHEA Group.
Many missions from the major space agencies are
unique, or at least small in number compared with
the production of cars and planes, for example.
50 OPENSPACE
However, even something that could be considered
‘mass production’ involves many companies, and
they all need to share the correct information in order
to ensure the final vehicle is operationally functional
and safe, and can be used as intended for its planned
lifespan.
Single source of truth
One of the challenges presented by such complex
projects is making sure that everyone is working with
the same information, and that nothing gets lost or
erroneously changed along the way.
“When you work with documents, you can end up with
many copies or duplicates of the same information
in different places and that inevitably leads to
inconsistencies after a time. They very quickly diverge
and need to be brought back in line,” notes Hans
Peter de Koning, Principal and Systems Engineer at
DEKonsult. “A better architecture is to have what we
call an authoritative source of data, or in practice
a limited number of authoritative sources that are
synchronized at appropriate intervals, as a single
source is often not attainable. The authoritative source
is referenced by all the users who need to use it. Then,
if it gets updated, by referencing that information you
are automatically up to date. For me, that is the Holy
Grail of digital continuity.”
Having an ‘authoritative source of truth’ not only helps
to avoid mistakes that can creep in as documents are
shared, copied and updated, it also provides a way to
trace any element back to its source and history, and
offers a degree of neutrality.
Digital twins
Working with digital models
instead of documents also
opens up the option of using
digital twins for planning and
testing purposes.
“There is a lot of
feedback from testing
during the evolution of
a spacecraft to verify
whether assumptions we
have made in the early phases
are valid. Using digital twins, which are
digital models that behave exactly like the
real system, can let us do some of this even
while the system is being developed – as long as
the digital twin is accurate,” says Marcel Verhoef,
Systems Engineer in ESA’s Directorate of Technology,
Engineering and Quality Systems & Concurrent
Engineering Section (TEC-SYE).
Using digital twins of operational jet engines
helps optimize their use, maximize their lifespan
and reduce their carbon footprint.
While acknowledging ESA’s move towards the use
of digital twins, Hans Peter de Koning cites aviation
engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce as one of the best done well, we reduce overheads in the engineering
examples of an organization reaping the benefits of processes. We also prevent or detect errors earlier,
using digital continuity and thereby digital twins. which avoids reworking, and that in turn reduces costs
Rolls-Royce has a digital twin of every one of its and makes project planning and product quality more
engines currently in service, and captures huge predictable. It also means all the stakeholders who
amounts of in-flight data from sensors in each engine. play a role in managing the system can do that as best
This enables health monitoring and preventative as possible,” says ESA’s Marcel Verhoef. During the
maintenance, which in turn helps to maximize the operational and end-of-life stages of a satellite, digital
lifespan of the engines and reduce the manufacturing continuity could also contribute to more efficient
carbon footprint. operations.

Hans Peter de Koning explains: “Rolls-Royce does The challenges

not sell engines, it sells thrust – what it calls ‘power by
the hour’. Its use of digital twins allows the company
to plan maintenance in a very sophisticated way and
is also important to airlines because it lets them use
their fleet of aircraft in an optimized way in order to
compete.”
For ESA, creating digital twins by enabling digital
continuity will offer benefits throughout a mission’s
lifecycle. “The entire lifecycle of the product would
be supported by its digital counterpart that is used
to design and manage the spacecraft. When this is
There are a number of hurdles to overcome in order to
achieve digital continuity for complex systems, such as
spacecraft. One relates to the outputs for each phase
of an engineering project. Just as there are currently
standards governing what documents should be
produced at each stage, and what should be in each
document, in a digital world industry needs to agree
what digital artefacts have to be exchanged, their
format and content, and the meaning of that content.
Another big challenge is the many different tools and
languages used by all the stakeholders involved.

JANUARY 2023 51
“No single developer or tool vendor, no matter how big
they are, can provide a complete toolset that covers all
the requirements of all areas of engineering that you
need in order to develop complex systems. That goes
for space, aeronautics, automotive, civil infrastructure,
national railways, power plants and so on,” explains
Hans Peter de Koning. “As a result, every engineering
solution to a complex problem needs a very large set
of tools, but the problem is finding a way to connect all
of those different engineering tools.”

To enable this to happen requires several things,

including using a language that is agreed upon by all
those involved in the relevant sector. Or to be precise,
not a language but an ‘ontology’, which describes the
vocabulary needed to allow different tools to talk to
each other.

Context and meaning

“When you are talking about digitalization, one of the
key issues you have to agree upon is the format for
describing both the information and the meaning of
that information,” explains ESA’s Marcel Verhoef.
“If you write a piece of text in English, it might not be
interpreted by two readers in the same way because
their interpretations will depend on the context in
which you describe the information. And if you do not
use the same vocabulary at both ends, then the same
word might not have the same meaning for both the
writer and the reader. So you have to agree on both
the vocabulary and the meaning of each word in the
vocabulary. That is what we mean when we talk about
ontologies.”
This precision is also important because of the
difference between how humans and computers
interpret information. “Humans are able to be
less precise and still understand each other,
whereas computers cannot,” points out RHEA’s
Sam Gerené.
Hans Peter de Koning adds: “If you are not precise
about the meaning of information, you cannot
successfully map it or exchange it between tools. Also,
you cannot create the adaptors at the boundaries of
the tools that can ingest or export information of a
ESA sees model-based
system engineering as the
solution to the development and
management of increasingly complex
space missions.
certain kind in a certain format. It is these adaptors
that will allow us to connect to different sources or
provide information to different consumers of that
information.”
Why space needs an ontology
In the space sector, this is being addressed through
the development of a Space System Ontology (SSO),
which is being driven forward by the Overall Semantic
Modelling for System Engineering (OSMoSE) group.
“The intent of the SSO is to capture all the information
that is required to express what it means to be a
space mission, across its whole lifecycle, across all
the disciplines involved and across all organizational
boundaries to enable semantic interoperability. It is a
huge undertaking,” says RHEA’s Sam Gerené. “If you
do not agree on the data that you want to exchange,
you cannot exchange it properly. So the core is the
ontology and then we build systems on top of that to
facilitate the exchange itself.”

52 OPENSPACE

© ESA/Science Office
ESA has several projects underway to look at
requirements for specific areas of space missions.
These will be used to produce ‘Universes of
Discourse’ that will complement the SSO by covering
the complete range of items or attributes related
to that area. One example is the ‘Digitalisation of
Space System Thermal Engineering’ project being
undertaken by RHEA – an area that is key because
thermal engineering touches every spacecraft
subsystem.
In another project for ESA, RHEA is looking at product
assurance as part of space missions. “When we talk
about digital continuity and making sure we capture
the information needs of all the stakeholders, it starts
with the engineering domains. But it is more than
that. It also covers the entire acquisition and product
assurance processes,” adds Sam Gerené. “How you
deal with the information required from a product
assurance and safety point of view is also part of this
transition.”
JANUARY 2023
Concurrent design and beyond
Within the space sector, it is the early phases of a
mission that are most advanced in terms of digital
continuity, because the richness of information
required for later phases increases significantly as
more details of the design need to be described.
“Depending on the mission, there may be between 15
and 25 different engineering disciplines involved, as
well as cost engineering, risk assessments, security
and so on – all of which need to be aligned in order
to have a successful mission,” says Hans Peter de
Koning. “With concurrent engineering we have already
achieved a big part of that for the conceptual design
phase because the team is smaller and the interaction
is much faster.”
For the early stages, ESA has defined, in collaboration
with industry, a ‘technical memorandum’ called
ECSS-E-TM-10-25A for the exchange of engineering
design model data. This is produced by the European
Cooperation for Space Standardization (ECSS) and
has been developed for over 15 years.
ECSS-E-TM-10-25A (sometimes referred to as 10-25)
is at the core of RHEA’s COMET concurrent design
tool, which is used at ESA’s CDF at the European
Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC)
in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, and at the European
Space Security and Education Centre (ESEC) in Redu,
Belgium. There, COMET provides the foundation for
capturing information from all the domain experts to
produce digital models that can be used to explore
and refine the initial digital design.
“You could consider 10-25 as a precursor to the
SSO,” explains Hans Peter de Koning. “But it is limited
because it targets the conceptual design phase and
is not suitable for the later phases covering detailed
design, testing, manufacturing and integration, and
does not scale to handle the amount of detail needed.
Also, in 10-25 we only model the structure of the
design and not the behaviour. The SSO will be much
wider, covering from cradle to grave.”
For later stages, although the SSO is far from
complete, other projects have been undertaken or are
underway to create the functionality required to let
53
various tools exchange data and interoperate,
no matter what language they each use. One early
project was MARVL (Model-Based Requirements
Verification Lifecycle), led by RHEA, which included
development of the Common Information Platform
(CIP) software tool to support exchange of
requirements, design and verification information.
That was followed by the Digital Engineering Hub
Pathfinder, in which RHEA developed a set of
interfaces across the concurrent design ecosystem
in accordance with ECSS-E-TM-10-25A.
The latest project is the Model-Based Engineering
Hub (MBSE Hub), with two parallel development
programmes underway, one of which is also being
led by RHEA. The MBSE Hub is addressing the much
greater challenge of enabling MBSE across the space
sector by providing a virtualized central hub that
will allow stakeholders to exchange data using the
SSO. It will also support auxiliary processes such as
configuration control and workflow management.
“The MBSE Hub is the implementation of the ontology
to reach semantic interoperability. One of the
important distinctions is that the MBSE Hub is not
intended to create content or models. There are many
tools with which you can create content – COMET is
one of them. The MBSE Hub, on the other hand, will
be used to transfer content from A to B, and translate
54
it in such a way that you can reuse the content in a
different way at the other end,” explains Sam Gerené.
“It will provide a way to exchange data and translate
it so that you have a common language to talk among
different partners and exchange ideas.”
Open source
In addition to the technical challenges being
addressed to enable digital continuity, there are issues
related to sharing and dissemination of information.
Some tool vendors may not have an interest in creating
export interfaces because of a perception that it will
negatively impact their businesses, and there is then a
risk for users that they may find themselves locked into
that vendor.
Conversely, other organizations are taking the
approach that creating the required interfaces and
adaptors, and even publishing their software as open
source, is the best option to drive the whole sector
towards digital continuity, and that they will accrue
benefits in other ways.
As an ESA project, the MBSE Hub will be open source.
“The idea is that organizations should be able to use
SysML or Capella or MATLAB or Enterprise Architect,
or whichever of the many tools and languages out
there that best suits their needs, and still be able
to share information,” says Sam Gerené. “The SSO
OPENSPACE
ESA believes the transition from documents to models using MBSE will enable it to meet time and cost efficiency targets set out in its
Technology Strategy. © Sparx Systems
should make everyone’s lives easier, so in the end we
can, with less money and effort, get to a better result
in a shorter time.
“Our view is that by building components that
adhere to the SSO and making them open source,
when you need to build anything new, you can take
those components and reuse them, to avoid having
to reinvent the wheel. Related to that, the SSO is
expressed in a language called ORM (Object Role
Modelling), so another open source product we have
developed is Kalliope, which is a library that lets
us read ORM models and generate code to avoid
spending time doing this manually.”
Endless possibilities
All the experts agree that we are never likely to reach
a situation where digital continuity not only exists
throughout the engineering world, but also where there
is nothing left to be tackled and developed.
“It is a path that we walk,” suggests Sam Gerené. “As
we are able to do more and invent better things, the
Digital continuity will aid industry in many ways, such as
reducing errors, cutting costs and achieving goals faster.
JANUARY 2023
target of digital continuity will move forward in time.
But along the way we will reach what is on the horizon
now, and that milestone will give us great benefit, even
though there will be more milestones to meet.”
“In the end,” says Hans Peter de Koning, “the ideal
is to have a plug and play environment in which you
can connect all the necessary engineering tools
seamlessly, so you can let humans do what humans
do best and let machines do what machines do
best. That would let you delegate the data handling,
simulations, bookkeeping and even generation of
multiple potential solutions to computers, and leverage
the strong points of humans, such as creative thinking
and decision-making.”
That is the ultimate attraction of digital continuity.
It will aid industry in many ways, such as reducing
errors, cutting costs and achieving goals faster –
and ultimately aiding competitiveness. And it will let
engineers and everyone else involved avoid tedious,
labour-intensive work and instead focus on producing
better outcomes. A win-win scenario all round. n
55
Digital Continuity at the
European Space Agency
The European Space Agency (ESA) has digital continuity as one of its primary
targets for the future. However, with numerous missions at different stages and a
plethora of stakeholders, achieving this is not going to be easy. OpenSpace spoke
to ESA’s Marcel Verhoef, a Systems Engineer in the Directorate of Technology,
Engineering and Quality Systems & Concurrent Engineering Section (TEC-SYE), to
discover what digital continuity means for the Agency and how it is moving forward.

What does digital continuity mean We have to make sure that

for ESA?
It is about the information used from cradle to grave to
support the engineering of space systems – from the
initial idea captured in the Concurrent Design Facility
(CDF), where I work, through the engineering phases to
build the spacecraft and then the operations phase, and
all the way to the disposal of the spacecraft in order to
make sure we are compliant with space regulations. It is
the whole lifecycle – and not just between ESA and our
key suppliers, but throughout the supply chain, so we
can reduce costs and deliver on time.
information (which is captured
in digital models) is propagated in the
right way to the entire ecosystem,
communicating the right thing at the
right quality level, and doing so at
the right time and at the right level
of abstraction. We also have to ensure
that all the stakeholders with a role in managing the
system can do it without relying on derived artefacts
such as documents, because documents are costly
and hard to produce and maintain.

© ESA–G. Porter

ESA's Concurrent Design Facility

at ESTEC in the Netherlands.
56 OPENSPACE
How far has the space sector
progressed towards digital continuity?
There is no generic answer to this, as it depends on
who is involved and which stage of the lifecycle you
look at.
In the CDF, we are quite advanced because when you
are dealing with entirely new missions, there is usually
no physical legacy to deal with and we are constantly
working with digital models, which requires relatively
little investment. It is comparatively easy to come up
with new digital insights and use digital technologies
to define a space mission.
Beyond that it varies, depending on the phase of the
mission and the disciplines and suppliers involved –
some are more advanced than others. For projects
that are currently running, we have already agreed how
we will deal with digital models as an alternative to
documents, and making changes has repercussions.
So we have to be smart when trying to find places
where we can introduce this technology at a level of
risk and investment that all stakeholders are willing to
accept, and that will provide a high likelihood of a solid
return on investment.
Also, the space domain is very wide. Science missions
have different requirements from navigation or
communication missions. So we have to look at each
one and consider how we can understand their needs
and best roll out the digitalization efforts.
We all want to move forward as fast as possible, and
at ESA we are undertaking projects both to stimulate
this and to make the community aware of where we
have got to, what is still to be done and how we can
improve on a day-to-day basis. Events such as the
annual MBSE conference and workshop are part of
that, and these let us move forward together. It is both
a technology push and a market pull exercise.
What challenges does ESA face?
There are many! It is a continuous debate with industry
to determine the best way forward. And there are
many things that influence it that we do not have any
control over: for example information security, which
is governed by national laws. Digital data exchange
JANUARY 2023
across borders raises security issues that we have to
overcome, both by building a network of trust between
all the partners and by understanding what information
actually needs to be shared.
Also, in a fully digital world, digital information is
intellectual property, so companies will want to be
very careful what information they exchange, and with
whom, as that may affect their competitive edge.
There are also challenges in the handover from one
phase of a space mission to another, and that is
where we still have inefficiencies. Typically, different
companies are involved in each phase. And they
tend to do digitalization in different ways, so we are
investing a lot of effort to resolve this. When we move
from exchanging documents to working digitally,
we have to consider the information that should
be exchanged. What digital artefacts need to be
exchanged and what format should they have? What
content should they have and what is the meaning of
that content?
When will ESA achieve digital
continuity?
This is not something that will happen overnight.
In terms of technology adoption, we are still on
the beginning of the roll-out curve and probably
still behind industry in general. There is a lot to do
practically and strategically to make sure we move
forward at all levels in order to achieve a fully digitized
workflow.
However, the benefits will be huge for stakeholders
and right across the supply chain. It will reduce the
cost and effort to achieve the quality we require,
mainly by avoiding duplication of data and minimizing
errors. And in the end, this will add to everyone’s
competitiveness. n
“We have to make sure that
information captured in digital
models is propagated in the right
way to the entire ecosystem.”
57
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58 OPENSPACE