Germany has become the tenth member of the EU Satcom Market. It joins Belgium, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Luxemburg, Poland, Romania and the UK in the European Defence Agency (EDA) led project designed to provide flexible commercial satellite communication (Comsatcom) solutions.

Germany has its own satellites and has good coverage with Comsatcom. However, the EU Satcom Market adds a flexible option on top of this portfolio, offering a ‘pay per use’ model, so Member States do not have to pay a regular fee and instead only pay for the services that they use. As Germany offers an Operational Headquarters to EU Operations, it could draw on this option to cover multinational requirements.

Giampaolo Lillo, EDA Director for Cooperation, Planning and Support, said: “It is a big step to see Germany join the EU Satcom Market. This is another sign that the pooling and sharing initiatives offered by EDA are of real value for participating Member States. The more countries we have on board, the better prices the EU Satcom Market will be able to offer.”