During an official announcement in Madrid, the European Space Agency (ESA) selected SpaceLocker and its consortium partners – Leaf Space (Italy), Alén Space (Spain), and WiRan (Poland) – to conduct the Phase A study for the strategic LYRA (LEO laYer Relay Access) project. This project aims to create a secure orbital data relay service, leveraging the upcoming sovereign European IRIS² constellation.
Théophile Lagraulet, CEO and co-founder of SpaceLocker, stated: “LYRA is an important milestone for SpaceLocker on several levels. First, it is a mark of trust from ESA in our ability to study the concept of a complex mission not only as a hosting provider, but also as a mission architect. Second, it is an opportunity to contribute to the Low-LEO layer of the major European IRIS² initiative, a strong symbol for the deeply European player we are building. Finally, it provides a concrete response to satellite operators: offering them direct, sovereign, near-real-time connectivity via the IRIS² network without requiring modifications to their platforms. I am convinced that LYRA can become a strategic asset for European space.”
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
To carry out this study phase with an overall budget of €1.2 million, SpaceLocker serves as consortium leader and system architect. The company is surrounding itself with top-tier European partners:
- 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, SpaceLocker and its partners 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
About SpaceLocker
Founded in 2022, SpaceLocker is a French space operator revolutionizing access to orbit through its shared hosting model. Facing the challenges of an increasingly congested orbit, the company provides a concrete response: avoiding expensive dedicated satellite builds by maximizing the capacity of existing space vehicles to host multiple missions. Building on its successes, SpaceLocker offers faster, affordable, and sustainable access to space, with the ambition of becoming the global reference.
Learn more at: https://spacelocker.fr/
About Leaf Space
Leaf Space operates a global ground station network dedicated to supporting Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite missions. Through its Ground-Segment-as-a-Service (GSaaS) model, Leaf Space simplifies and optimizes space telecommunications management for commercial and institutional operators.
Learn more at: https://leaf.space/
About Alén Space
A subsidiary of GMV, Alén Space is a Spanish company specializing in the design, manufacturing, and integration of small satellites and advanced radio frequency payloads for a wide range of space applications.
Learn more at: https://alen.space/
About WiRan
WiRan is a Polish engineering company expert in the development and manufacturing of high-performance radio frequency (RF) equipment for the space, defense, and telecommunications sectors.
Learn more at: https://wiran.pl/
Press Contact
Arnaud Le Dévéhat: arnaud.ledevehat@spacelocker.fr