Huld signs deal on the world’s first space-based gravitational wave observatory

This agreement is worth 9.2 million euros to Huld and covers a period until the planned three LISA spacecrafts are launched on an Ariane 6 rocket in 2035. A majority of the net sales will come in in the design, execution and testing phases of the LISA software. This will positively affect Huld’s net sales already at the end of 2025 and the beginning of 2026.

This pioneering project led by the European Space Agency (ESA) wants to open a brand new window on the dark Universe and validate the known laws of physics to their extreme and helping understand e.g. massive black holes. Three LISA spaceships orbiting the Sun will be placed in a triangle shape two million kilometers apart, and gravitational waves occurring between them will be observed.

Until now, gravitational waves have only been observed from land. LISA will be able to catch waves of lower frequency than the observatories on Earth, which will enable scientists to research how massive black holes merge and grow as they age, explore the fundamental nature of gravity, and study the rate at which the Universe expands.

“This is one of the most ambitious scientific missions ever in Europe, and we are immensely proud to be part of it. We are grateful for ESA’s and Thales’ continued trust in Huld’s expertise in critical space software development. This is an inspiring example for the next generation of engineers of how Finnish engineering can contribute to world-class science”, comment’s Huld’s Director of Space Dubravka Ilic.

Huld’s agreement is with Thales Alenia Space Italia who is responsible for satellite avionics and telecommunications system, whereas Huld’s central role is the design, development and very extensive testing of spacecraft control software of the three LISA spacecrafts. 

Huld is a technology company with 35 years of experience in demanding space and satellite applications. Huld provides mission-critical software systems for scientific instruments and satellites as well as demanding calculation software for atmospheric measurement and imaging tasks. Huld has worked on over 150 ESA projects, including the most recent Sentinel-4 and Sentinel-5 projects. Technology developed by Huld is currently orbiting Earth aboard numerous satellites, with its most distant presence reaching as far as Mercury on ESA’s BepiColombo ship.

Gofore announced its acquisition of Huld last July, and Huld became a part of the Gofore Group on 1 September 2025.

Further information:

ESA’s news on LISA on 17 June 2025