By: Nana Appiah Acquaye
At the
just-ended 18th European Space Conference, Laurent Jaffart, Director of
Connectivity and Secure Communications at ESA has emphasized the critical role
of space-based connectivity in enabling rapid, secure, and accurate situational
awareness for defence operations.
Speaking during
a panel discussion, Mr. Jaffart outlined how combining resilient terrestrial
infrastructure with space-derived data allows for real-time intelligence,
secure communications, and informed decision-making. The discussion highlighted
European Resilience from Space (ERS), a multi-domain system-of-systems
developed in partnership with the European Commission to address strategic gaps
in Europe’s defence capabilities.
ERS aims to
provide a 24/7 secure connectivity backbone through the evolved IRIS²
constellation, all-weather persistent observation for rapid tasking, and
Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) services resistant to jamming and
interference. The initiative is designed to strengthen intelligence,
surveillance, and targeting, forming the foundation of defence readiness.
Jaffart
stressed that secure, interoperable, and resilient space-to-ground systems are
essential to maintaining continuity, strategic autonomy, and operational
adaptability for European defence missions.
