PicoSaTs: Miniaturised SATCOM Subsystems for European Secure Connectivity and Defence Readiness
Ku/Ka-band transponders, high-gain antennas, and small-satellite integration under EU procurability constraints
PicoSaTs operates at the subsystem layer where European sovereignty in secure connectivity is determined less by satellite ownership than by the provenance, controllability, and scalability of radios, antennas, waveforms, and associated manufacturing know-how. Its stated focus on miniaturised high-frequency telecommunications components for CubeSats and small satellites aligns with the shift toward proliferated architectures that support crisis response and military mobility, but the strategic test is whether these subsystems can be produced, upgraded, and substituted within a trusted supply chain and without third-country constraints on design evolution. In the current EU policy environment, that test is increasingly codified through hard conditions on establishment, control, component-origin ceilings, and restriction-free design authority in instruments such as EDIP and SAFE; where public evidence supports programme participation and technical maturity it can be recorded, and where it does not, the assessment must treat those governance and procurability attributes as not publicly disclosed rather than inferred.