The European Space Agency selected a consortium led by SpaceLocker, alongside Leaf Space (Italy), Alén Space (Spain), and WiRan (Poland) to conduct the Phase A study for the strategic LYRA (LEO laYer Relay Access) project. The project aims to create a secure orbital data relay service, leveraging the upcoming sovereign European IRIS² constellation.
“LYRA Project represents a significant step toward a more connected and autonomous European space ecosystem,” said Giovanni Pandolfi Bortoletto, Leaf Space CPO & Co-founder “By contributing our expertise in ground segment operations and service delivery, we aim to help develop a link between spacecraft in Low Earth Orbit and the future IRIS² infrastructure, ultimately improving access to secure, resilient, and sovereign connectivity for satellite operators across Europe.”
A sovereign orbital gateway to unlock the full potential of IRIS²
Today, direct use of data transport services from the IRIS² constellation requires adding dedicated space terminals onboard satellites. Project LYRA addresses this challenge by consolidating a mission concept for acting as an in-orbit gateway: enabling unmodified Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites equipped with standard S or X-band radios to connect to the IRIS² infrastructure.
In addition to extending connectivity coverage and drastically reducing latency, LYRA aim to integrate onboard edge processing capabilities to enhance the autonomy and responsiveness of Earth observation, telecommunications, or science missions, while ensuring secure, sovereign backhaul links to the ground.
A European consortium of excellence targeting 2029
With a Phase A budget of €1.2 million, the LYRA project involves top-tier European companies:
- SpaceLocker (France), consortium leader and system architect;
- Leaf Space (Italy), responsible for the ground segment and service operations;
- Alén Space (Spain), architect of the radio frequency (RF) payload;
- WiRan (Poland), designer of the RF front-end chain and antenna subsystems.
The consortium also leverages the expertise of major and emerging European space industry actors such as Thales Alenia Space and Oledcomm. The Phase A study will consolidate the technical and industrial roadmap toward a first in-orbit service demonstration targeted for the first quarter of 2029.
Beyond this initial mission concept consolidation, Project LYRA asserts itself as the foundational building block for a future orbital relay infrastructure. By establishing an interconnected network in Low Earth Orbit, the consortium lay the groundwork for a permanent mesh capable of delivering continuous, resilient, and sovereign connectivity to all European space actors.
About ESA Programme Related to EU Secure Connectivity
Under the overall responsibility of the European Commission, IRIS² is a bold endeavour to build a space-based secure and resilient connectivity network that elevates Europe’s strategic autonomy and competitiveness, where and when it matters most. ESA acts on behalf of the European Commission as the qualification and validation authority for the governmental infrastructure of the Union Secure Connectivity Programme. It manages development and validation contracts supporting the initial space and ground segments, verifies end-to-end system, service, and security performance against EC requirements, and coordinates these activities with ESA’s own programme.
Within this programme, the IRIS² Low-LEO Pre-Operational and De-Risk Activities components provide a rapid and recurrent mechanism for validating potential new governmental services and associated mission concepts in orbit up to a pre-operational level, subject to successful maturation and later programme level decisions of integration into the operational EU IRIS² baseline.
Ultimately, these activities aim at contributing to the continued evolution and enhancement of IRIS² services and capabilities, supporting Europe’s long-term leadership in space in an ever-changing world.
Learn more at: https://resilience.esa.int/esa-programme-related-to-eu-secure-connectivity-and-iris%C2%B2
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