DLT applied to satellite communications

BlockSatCom, a project aimed at researching secure communications technology in the space industry, has recently been launched. GMV is leading the project’s business consortium, which also includes Guardtime (Estonia) and VdA (Portugal).

The purpose of this consortium is to study and develop new architectures to solve current problems or give satellite communication systems new capabilities through distributed ledger technology (DLT), drawing on use cases that have been reviewed and shared among various members of the satellite industry and the DLT world.

The key advantage of DLT, which has so far been used in the field of cryptocurrencies, is that it provides greater information transparency and security thanks to the decentralized storage and use of systems’ data.

This project will explore the benefits that this technology can bring to the satellite telecommunications industry. In addition, it will identify potential use cases, defining the best-suited system architectures and the required technological developments. The project also plans to keep the user community informed of its progress and findings.

This groundbreaking project falls within the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Telecom ARTES 4.0 program. GMV is responsible for coordinating the project execution phases as well as liaising with ESA and the consortium members and stakeholders, including companies in the space industry and experts in DLT-based systems.

BlockSatCom is currently in the requirements definition phase based on end-user perspectives.