SES Selects Arianespace to Launch EAGLE-1 Satellite for Europe’s Quantum Cryptography
9.11.2022 10:50:00 EET | Business Wire | Press release
The EAGLE-1 satellite, which will support the end-to-end secure Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) system for Europe, will be launched for SES by Arianespace on a Vega C rocket from French Guiana as early as Q4 2024. The satellite will be placed into Low Earth Orbit (LEO). The EAGLE-1 project comprising satellite and ground infrastructure, is developed by SES and its consortium of 20 European partners, with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Commission support.
Under the recently-signed agreement with ESA, SES and its partners will design, develop, launch and operate a satellite-based end-to-end QKD system for the purpose of testing and validating space-based secure transmission of cryptographic keys. The first European sovereign space-based QKD system will include the dedicated low earth orbit (LEO) EAGLE-1 satellite and state-of-the-art QKD operations centre in Luxembourg. In the scope of EuroQCI, the EAGLE-1 satellite will enable early access, validation, and integration of space-based QKD for EU Member States.
“Building the EAGLE-1 end-to-end system for secure data transmission and validating the long-distance Quantum Key Distribution technology is an innovative project that will benefit the EU Member States,” said Ruy Pinto, Chief Technology Officer at SES. “We have been working with Arianespace for decades to deliver our satellites into space and are delighted for them to be onboard to launch the EAGLE-1 satellite into orbit.”
“We are delighted and honored by this renewed mark of confidence from the leading global content connectivity service provider SES,” noted Marino Fragnito, Director of Arianespace’s Vega business unit. “Over the last 38 years, Arianespace has carried out 42 launches for its longstanding partner, and Vega C will now continue this successful track record. It is a great honor for us to support our customer’s ambitions and to be part of this mission that aims at implementing Europe’s satellite-enabled cybersecurity technology.”
Following the launch, the EAGLE-1 satellite will complete three years of in-orbit mission supported by the European Commission. During this operational phase, the satellite will allow European Union governments and institutions, as well as critical business sectors, early access to long-distance QKD that would path the way towards an EU constellation enabling ultra-secure data transmissions.
The EAGLE-1 project is co-funded by the ESA contribution of Germany, Luxembourg, Austria, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, and the Czech Republic under ARTES, as well as the European Commission through Horizon Europe.
Vega C, the new European light launcher successfully passed its inaugural flight on July 13 and now enters its operational phase under the responsibility of Arianespace. With this contract, Vega C backlog includes over 40 satellites contracts.
Vega C development program has been managed by ESA with 12 Member States of the Agency. Avio Spa (Colleferro, Italy) is the industrial prime of the Vega launch system. Vega C has been upgraded with more powerful first and second stage Solid Rocket Motors and with a larger fairing, which significantly increases payload mass and double allowable volume as compared to Vega. The launcher also better meets the specific needs of small spacecrafts, thanks to its improved SSMS dispenser and to its AVUM+ that allows seven re-ignitions instead of five. Vega C can thus deliver to three different separation orbits for its multiple payloads within the same mission, instead of the two previously possible with Vega.
For more information, visit the EAGLE-1 Newsroom
Follow SES on:
Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | LinkedIn | Instagram
Follow Arianespace on:
Twitter | YouTube | LinkedIn | Instagram
About ESA
The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. ESA is an intergovernmental organisation, created in 1975, with the mission to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space delivers benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. For more information see www.esa.int
The Telecommunications and Integrated Applications Directorate (TIA) supports innovation to boost the competitiveness of European industry in the global space market. This involves a wide range of activities, from space-based technology, systems, products for telecommunications development to the down-to-Earth application of space-based services. It also calls for engagement with a wide range of industrial, academic, and institutional partners. For more information, please visit our website: https://artes.esa.int/
About SES
SES has a bold vision to deliver amazing experiences everywhere on earth by distributing the highest quality video content and providing seamless connectivity around the world. As the leader in global content connectivity solutions, SES operates the world’s only multi-orbit constellation of satellites with the unique combination of global coverage and high performance, including the commercially-proven, low-latency Medium Earth Orbit O3b system. By leveraging a vast and intelligent, cloud-enabled network, SES is able to deliver high-quality connectivity solutions anywhere on land, at sea or in the air, and is a trusted partner to the world’s leading telecommunications companies, mobile network operators, governments, connectivity and cloud service providers, broadcasters, video platform operators and content owners. SES’s video network carries ~8,000 channels and has an unparalleled reach of 366 million households, delivering managed media services for both linear and non-linear content. The company is listed on Paris and Luxembourg stock exchanges (Ticker: SESG). Further information is available at: www.ses.com.
About Arianespace
Arianespace uses Space to make life better on Earth by providing launch services for all types of satellites into all orbits. It has orbited over 1,100 satellites since 1980. Arianespace is responsible for operating the new-generation Ariane 6 and Vega C launchers, developed by ESA, with respectively ArianeGroup and Avio as industrial primes. Arianespace is headquartered in Evry, near Paris, and has a technical facility at the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana, plus local offices in Washington, D.C., Tokyo and Singapore. Arianespace is a subsidiary of ArianeGroup, which holds 74% of its share capital, with the balance held by 15 other shareholders from the Ariane and Vega European launcher industry, and ESA and Cnes as censors.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221108006349/en/
Contact information
For further information:
Suzanne Ong
External Communications, SES
Tel. +352 710 725 500
suzanne.ong@ses.com
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
The Only AI Crypto Lead Prioritization Solution Built With Law Enforcement, for Law Enforcement: Elliptic Launches Pulse24.9.2026 16:15:00 EEST | Press release
Elliptic, the global leader in on-chain risk, today launched Pulse. Pulse puts crypto lead prioritization directly in the hands of every frontline law enforcement and government officer. Crypto now touches every part of law enforcement, from the patrol officer on the street to the detective assigned to investigate the case. Pulse gives each of them a quick, accurate financial summary and a starting point: whether that's a crypto address on a suspect's phone, in a scam ATM victim's receipt, uncovered during a vehicle or pocket search, or found at the scene of an overdose, an arrest, or a seizure. An officer can input anything that looks like a wallet address or transaction hash. Pulse identifies it, reasons over the result, and returns a summary in plain language, enough for the officer to decide on the spot whether the case needs escalation. If a case needs further investigation, one click sends the full analysis forward, not just the evidence. The criminal investigations division gets
SymphonyAI Introduces Symphony Risk Intelligence, an Agent-native Platform That Unlocks Always-on Compliance™ — the Catalyst for Transforming the Financial Crime Operating Model24.9.2026 16:04:00 EEST | Press release
SymphonyAI today introduced Symphony Risk Intelligence (SRI), an enterprise-grade, agent-native platform built to unlock Always-on Compliance™. This is a critical shift from periodic to continuous risk and compliance management, in which institutions continuously reassess risk and adapt controls as regulations, threats and business activity change, rather than waiting for the next scheduled review. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260924914614/en/ Current approaches have reached their structural limits. The FinCrime Frontier 2026–27 Report, released recently by SymphonyAI and AML Intelligence, finds just 4.7% of financial institutions continuously update their compliance monitoring and controls as risk changes, and 76.3% still review alerts manually or with only partial automation — barely changed year over year. Yet standing still isn't an option: the regulatory climate is at a major inflection point across ev
Just 4.7% of Financial Institutions Continuously Update Their Compliance Monitoring and Controls as Risk Changes, New Research Finds24.9.2026 16:04:00 EEST | Press release
SymphonyAI, a global leader in vertical AI product platforms, and AML Intelligence, the leading source of news and insight for the financial crime compliance community, today released the FinCrime Frontier 2026–27 Report, finding that most financial institutions still rely on periodic review cycles to manage financial crime risk, even as the threats and regulations they are meant to track continue to evolve dynamically. Based on the perspectives of more than 200 financial crime and compliance leaders, including senior leaders from major global financial institutions, the research finds that just 4.7% of financial institutions continuously update their compliance monitoring and controls as risk changes, while 56.8% have not adopted always-on compliance monitoring at all, are only exploring it, or remain at an early, pilot-stage level. The finding points to a structural gap: financial crime typologies, payment ecosystems and regulatory expectations are evolving continuously, while most c
Boomi Appoints Mike Hickman as Chief Financial Officer24.9.2026 16:00:00 EEST | Press release
Boomi, the data activation company for AI, today announced the appointment of Mike Hickman as Chief Financial Officer. Hickman will lead Boomi's global finance and accounting organization, spanning financial planning and analysis, accounting, treasury, tax, and financial reporting. He reports to Boomi Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Steve Lucas. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260924761566/en/ Boomi Appoints Mike Hickman as Chief Financial Officer Hickman brings three decades of senior finance leadership in high-growth SaaS and technology companies, with experience across the full corporate lifecycle: scaling through IPO, executing a take-private, and integrating large acquisitions. He joins from Proofpoint, where he spent seven and a half years, most recently as Senior Vice President of Finance, helping guide the company through its $12.3 billion take-private and the $1.8 billion acquisition of Hornetsec
Altasciences Supports 4B Healthcare in Advancing Steroid Nasal Irrigation Rinse to Clinical Trials24.9.2026 15:40:00 EEST | Press release
Altasciences is proud to announce that recent formulation work supporting 4B Healthcare Inc. (“4B”) has helped advance its RhineX nasal irrigation rinse therapy into clinical investigation. Following several months of formulation development, R&D manufacturing, stability testing, and quality assurance support at Altasciences’ CDMO facility in Harleysville, PA, the Tennessee-based pharmaceutical company has received FDA clearance to proceed with clinical testing of RhineX under its IND. First subject dosing is planned for October 2026, approximately seven months after formulation development began. "The concept for RhineX grew out of a problem I have seen in my own ENT practice for years—the need for a better treatment option for allergic rhinitis when conventional medical therapy is not enough,” said Brannon Mangus, MD, Co-Founder and CEO of 4B. “We founded 4B Healthcare to take that physician insight and turn it into a pharmaceutical product that could meaningfully change how these pa
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom