The European Space Agency’s  ARTES programme for Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems, helps to create products, services and infrastructures that benefit millions of people worldwide and make a major contribution to the European economy.

The economic engine of the space industry is satellite communications, generating over $140 billion a year in global revenues. The ARTES programme exists to support innovation, helping to transform research and development into commercial products and services.

ESA’s telecom programmes often take the form of public–private partnerships. ESA joins forces with industry to share the cost and risk, resulting in faster and more innovative technological advances than if either undertook the project alone.

The most recent high-profile telecom programmes are Alphasat, the largest European telecom satellite ever built and the European Data Relay System, a groundbreaking space and ground infrastructure that uses laser links to send data at unprecedented speeds.

ARTES also promotes the use of satellites in new and imaginative ways. Satellite communications can be applied in areas as diverse as healthcare, education, transport and security to deliver services and improve daily life.