Ensuring the security of the EU Space Program is a multi-front battle, which involves protecting not only the satellites in space, but also the signals and services that those satellites provide.
As the security guard of the EU Space Programme, EUSPA helps with both.
For example, in this role EUSPA works to ensure that government users have ready access to secure satellite communications services through the GOVSATCOM component of the EU Space Programme.
European Union Government Satellite Communications (GOVSATCOM) provides secure, resilient and cost-effective satellite communications capabilities for critical safety and security missions and government operations managed by the EU and its Member States, including national security actors and EU agencies and institutions. This is an essential skill during crisis situations and natural disasters, during which having timely access to secure satellite communications (SatCom) is critical to emergency response and mitigation efforts.
GOVSATCOM’s core infrastructure is the GOVSATCOM hub, which securely connects government users with satellite communications resource providers.
Managed by EUSPA, the GOVSATCOM Hub is the program’s secure terrestrial infrastructure that brings together commercial and government satellite communications capabilities and services. These capabilities and services are then shared with EU member states, who can use them for such security-related services as surveillance, critical infrastructure protection and crisis management.
With GOVSATCOM Hub, emergency first responders and other authorities no longer need to find and reserve secure SatCom services through different service providers – a cumbersome and time-consuming process that can significantly delay emergency response efforts. Furthermore, by always having a significant level of SatCom services reserved for EU Member States, the GOVSATCOM Center eliminates the risk of commercial SatCom services being unavailable.
GOVSATCOM is operational today, connecting government users across Europe and strengthening European capabilities in sensitive areas of safety and security.
Protecting GNSS signals from spoofing attacks
In its security role, EUSPA also helps develop and deliver innovative new services and solutions that address specific risks such as fraud.
One of those new solutions is the Galileo Open Service – Navigation Message Authentication (OSNMA), a unique authentication mechanism that allows Galileo users to verify the authenticity of their GNSS navigation data.
It seems not a day goes by without a story involving malicious actors spoofing satellite signals to provide unreliable or even false positioning information. When this interference tricks our smartphone or vehicle navigation system into believing it’s meters, if not kilometers, away from its actual location, it’s a nuisance. But when it targets the aviation or maritime sector, fraud becomes a serious security risk.
For example, in January 2025, a flight en route to Vilnius had to abort its landing approach and divert to Warsaw due to severe GNSS interference. Likewise, last spring, merchant ships near the Danube Delta and Romania reported decoys where their Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) showed ships moving on land or circling.
With OSNMA, users can be sure that the navigation data they receive comes from Galileo and has not been modified in any way. It does this by embedding a ‘digital signature’ in Galileo’s positioning and timing information. Using public keys, an OSNMA-enabled receiver decrypts this cryptographic data and verifies that the navigation information comes from the Galileo system and not from another source.
OSNMA also makes Galileo signals unpredictable and difficult to reproduce, making it significantly more challenging to spoof OSNMA-enabled receivers.
Galileo is the first GNSS system to offer such robust protection against spoofing attacks to all users worldwide.
Down the road, Galileo will move to a multi-frequency validation approach that will cover all Galileo data (starting with Galileo second generation (G2) and based on increasing infrastructure capabilities). But in the near future, Galileo will complement OSNMA with the Galileo Signal Authentication Service (SAS) to provide a fully authenticated positioning solution. Galileo SAS will provide access to E6C encoded signals without the need to store confidential cryptographic material in the receiver.
Investing in the security of our space assets
GOVSATCOM and OSNMA are just two examples of how Europe is investing in the security of its space assets. And in today’s era of geopolitical instability, such investments are more critical than ever.
This is why the EU has made space a key component in its security and defence, a concept that is included in the EU’s Space Strategy for Security and Defence. The strategy aims to protect Europe’s space assets, protect its interests, deter hostile activities in space and strengthen its strategic position and autonomy.
Thanks to its strong security apparatus and rich security experience, I am confident that not only will EUSPA continue to be an essential partner in the implementation of this Strategy, but also in keeping all of Europe’s space assets and the important data and services they provide safe and secure.
Rodrigo da Costa is the Executive Director at EUSPA
