Hellas Sat: New generation satellite communications

A new era in satellite communications, spanning from telecommunications to defense, is being inaugurated for Greece and Cyprus by Hellas Sat, with the first geostationary satellite with high-speed laser optical telecommunications.

To this end, Hellas Sat is signing in Cyprus a strategic partnership with the French Thales Alenia Space, the French Safran Data Systems and the French Space Agency (CNES).

This involves the co-signing of a framework agreement with these leading European entities, for the study, design and future hosting of optical telecommunications (laser) on the Hellas Sat 5 satellite, with the aim of achieving cutting-edge communications with a very high data transmission rate.

The announcement of the collaborations is being made in the context of the international conference “Battlefield ReDEFiNED 2026” taking place on February 26-27 in Nicosia, in the presence of government and military bodies, institutional actors and leading technological organizations.

According to Konstantinos Geroulis, Commercial Director of Hellas Sat, “in a period when communications security, strategic autonomy and operational readiness are being redefined, Space is emerging as a critical power infrastructure and a key element of modern defense and governance.”

New generation of satellites

The design of the new generation of Hellas Sat satellites has already begun and concerns the new Hellas Sat 5 satellite that will incorporate revolutionary technologies, satisfying the greatly increased demand for high data transmission speeds and security in communications. It will be a satellite with an innovative payload (“space cargo, i.e. the technological systems that will be placed in orbit) with optical telecommunications.

In this way, the foundations are laid for a pioneering space payload for space technology, which will allow “the use of laser beams from space at the geostationary position of 39° to provide high-speed telecommunications.

Its advantages include security, speed and the passage of large volumes of data, which will allow Hellas Sat to claim its use in a wide field including defense. In particular, the speeds far exceed current conventional limits, and in addition, communication via laser from a satellite at ~36,000 kilometers reduces exposure to hostile actions, and therefore constitutes an important guarantee for national security, especially in cases of crisis management.

According to the company’s planning, Hellas Sat 5 is expected to be launched in 2029. This is a program whose strategic value goes beyond Space and the exploitation of the rights of Greece and Cyprus to the exclusive orbital position of 39° degrees East for Greece and Cyprus, while strengthening an integrated communications system, where every part of the system – from the satellite to the ground station – meets the highest standards of safety, reliability and operational autonomy.