The European Space Agency has awarded two contracts, one to ICEYE and one to Leonardo, to carry out parallel architecture studies for the EU's future Earth Observation Governmental Service (EOGS). These activities are funded by the European Commission and are integral part of Element 1 of ESA's European Resilience from Space for Earth Observation (ERS-EO) programme - a new programme decided at the Ministerial Council in November 2025.
The new ERS initiative is a strategic effort by ESA and its Member States to strengthen Europe's resilience, security and autonomy through space-based capabilities, while jointly and promptly addressing critical capability gaps.
ERS has a system-of-systems vision and brings together complementary capabilities in Earth observation, positioning-navigation-timing and secure connectivity.
The Earth observation pillar of the ERS initiative, ERS-EO, is a dual-use programme and prepares for the European Commission's future EOGS programme, which is planned to begin in 2028 under the next Multiannual Financial Framework.
It is foreseen that EOGS will provide secure, reliable, timely, persistent and targeted space-based Earth observation data to enhance situational awareness to support preparedness, decision-making and action by the EU and its Member States in the fields of security and defence, while reinforcing existing and planned capabilities.
EOGS will comprise satellites, ground infrastructure, data and information, processing facilities, and distribution infrastructure. EOGS will also draw on commercial services, the sharing of Member States' own capacities and complementary core capacities developed specifically for and owned by the EU.
To support this objective, Element 1 of ERS-EO prepares and accelerates the future EOGS, based on user needs and security requirements defined by the European Commission.
With the European Commission entrusting ESA to define the architecture and development of EOGS, an important first step towards this ambitious goal has been taken today.
ESA has signed contracts with ICEYE and Leonardo to lead two European industrial consortia to conduct parallel studies aimed at defining an end-to-end architecture for EOGS.
ICEYE and Leonardo will develop and propose architectural options for the future implementation of EOGS across the full value chain - from user needs and the space segment through to ground infrastructure, data processing and distribution, and governance.
Signing the contracts at the World Space Business Week in Paris, France, ESA's Director of Earth Observation Programmes, Simonetta Cheli, said, "ERS-EO is an ambitious new programme designed to strengthen Europe's strategic autonomy and resilience through space-based intelligence and surveillance capabilities of Element 1, allowing for the preparation and acceleration of the EOGS programme.
"These two contracts are an important early milestone to construct and define the space architecture and the technological foundations for the initiative, and accelerate the development of independent European capabilities for security, crisis response and strategic autonomy - and we look forward to the outcomes of these studies next year."
About the European Resilience from Space-Earth Observation
The European Resilience from Space (ERS) initiative is a strategic effort by ESA and its Member States to strengthen Europe's resilience, security and strategic autonomy through space-based capabilities and to address critical capability gaps jointly and rapidly. ERS-EO is the Earth-observation pillar of the ERS initiative.
The purpose of ERS-EO is to ensure that Europe has reliable, secure and timely access to independent space-based information on developments on land, at sea and in the atmosphere. Earth observation can provide critical situational awareness in response to natural disasters, humanitarian emergencies, security incidents and geopolitical crises, supporting authorised users in making informed decisions.
ERS-EO will therefore focus on closing key European capability gaps through very-high-resolution optical and radar sensing, and potentially advanced sensor technologies, combined with rapid revisit capabilities enabled by large Earth observation constellations. The programme will provide guaranteed, secure and rapid access to data, with a security posture designed to meet both civilian and defence requirements.
The overall objective is to establish a resilient, sovereign and responsive European capability that can deliver trusted information when and where it is most needed.
Images
ESA's Photo Library for Professionals: https://www.esa-photolibrary.com/
Terms and conditions for using ESA images: www.esa.int/spaceinimages/ESA_Multimedia/Copyright_Notice_Images
Videos
ESA's Video Library for Professionals: https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Videos
Terms and conditions for using ESA video: www.esa.int/spaceinimages/ESA_Multimedia/Copyright_Notice_Images
