Objectives of the Product

Connecting satellites to additional ground station networks involves high integration costs in terms of time, personnel, and licensing. The market remains fragmented due to diverse providers, locations, and legal constraints, making real-time radio communication with satellites impossible. Meanwhile, some ground stations remain underutilised, and satellite integration remains complex.

The Aggregated Marketplace for Ground Station Services seamlessly integrates standalone ground stations, along with virtual and physical networks, into a unified ecosystem. It allows users to book services, manage contacts, and communicate with satellites within a single cross-network environment. Its role within the broader system of its target users is to serve as a satellite communications platform, leveraging ground station services from available providers while optimising operations based on user-defined constraints.

Gains for Satellite Operators:

• Pre-integration with multiple ground station networks, reducing integration time
• More communication sessions with satellites within the same mission budget
• A single gateway for booking and scheduling satellite contacts across a combined network
• Wider coverage and lower latency

Gains for Ground Stations:

• Additional sales channel
• Increased efficiency through reduced integration costs
• Pre-integration with mission control platforms

Customers and their Needs

The Marketplace customers are satellite operators, manufacturers, mission owners, system integrators, academia.

Their needs are related with:

• Reduced latency and expanded contact options
• Reliable infrastructure
• Simple integration and usage
• Higher level of automatisation
• Interoperability of different systems
• Lower costs

Targeted customer/users countries

Worldwide

Product description

Features of the Aggregated Marketplace for Ground Station Services:

• Cross-network connectivity
• Aggregation of services and pricing from different providers
• Contact management and booking across multiple ground stations
• Optimised booking based on various criteria
• Unified user interface for all key functions
• Vision: Near real-time data transfer capability

Added Value

There is a shortage of single, one-point-of-entry ground communication solutions integrated with multiple ground station networks. The closest alternatives are virtual networks, which combine stand-alone ground stations rather than full networks and lack mission control and satellite operations simulation capabilities like those offered by the Spaceit software.

Spaceit’s solution unifies satellite operators and ground station networks into a single platform. It integrates both virtual and physical networks—comprising radio and optical ground stations—creating a cohesive ecosystem for ground station services. This platform enables users to book and manage contacts, as well as communicate with satellites, all within one environment.

Current Status

The activity was successfully completed, and the service has been operational since 2025. During the InCubed programme, Spaceit integrated the software platform with six ground station networks, developed additional platform features, and signed commercial customers. The most notable mission, OPS-SAT ORIOLE, set to launch in 2026, will demonstrate near real-time switching of high-speed radio communications across different ground stations, among other objectives.