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    HORIZON-CL4-2027-SPACE-03-33

    Digital enablers and building blocks for collaborative Earth Observation and Satellite telecommunications for Space solutions (Space Partnership)

    Opens 9 Mar 2027Live official EU data

    SPACE · HORIZON-RIA · TRL 4–5 · Needs partners

    2 Sep 2027
    Deadline
    9 Mar 2027
    Opens for applications
    €1.5M–€3M
    Indicative, per project
    ~2
    Grants expected
    119
    Past winners in this family

    What this call funds

    This call funds research projects that develop new digital technologies for satellite communications and Earth observation, such as next-generation payloads, secure data processing, and systems that let ground and space infrastructure work together more flexibly. The goal is to make Europe's space industry more competitive and technologically independent by turning promising early-stage innovations into commercially usable space solutions.

    space technologies · cybersecurity · cloud edge computing · telecom 6g · deep tech

    Who wins this

    A consortium of space industry players, SMEs, research institutions and academia in Europe working on mid-stage (TRL 4-5) satellite communication and Earth observation technologies who want to build EU technological autonomy and commercial readiness.

    Could you win this call?

    We read your site to see what you build.

    The call in detail

    Indicative grant size
    €1.5M–€3M
    Funding model
    Lump sum — paid per completed work package, no financial reporting of actual costs
    Submission
    Single-stage submission (full proposal at once)
    Type of action
    HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions
    Partners
    Required. The call asks for a consortium — a group applying together, typically 3+ organisations from 3+ countries.
    Eligible applicants
    industry, SME, research institution, academia
    Also required
    Participation is limited to legal entities established in EU Member States, Iceland, Norway, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom and Switzerland, and projects using satellite Earth observation or navigation data must use Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS.
    Sectors
    AI/ML · Deep Tech · Manufacturing · Aerospace
    Eligible countries (45)
    Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, United Kingdom, IL, TR, UA, RS, MK, ME, AL, BA, XK, GE, AM, MD, TN, NZ
    Read the full conditions from the official call ›

    General conditions 1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes. Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System. 2. Eligible Countries described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide. 3. Other Eligible Conditions If projects use satellite-based earth observation, positioning, navigation and/or related timing data and services, beneficiaries must make use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS (other data and services may additionally be used). In order to achieve the expected outcomes, and safeguard the Union’s strategic assets, interests, autonomy, and security, it is important to avoid a situation of technological dependency on a non-EU source, in a global context that requires the EU to take action to build on its strengths, and to carefully assess and address any strategic weaknesses, vulnerabilities and high-risk dependencies which put at risk the attainment of its ambitions. For this reason, participation is limited to legal entities established in Member States, Iceland and Norway and the following additional associated countries: Canada, New-Zealand, United Kingdom and Switzerland. In addition, entities established in third countries which may become associated to Horizon Europe during 2026 and 2027 may be eligible to participate in this topic if the third country is identified for this topic as an eligible country in the List of Participating Countries in Horizon Europe at the time of submission of the application[[See the List of Participating Countries in Horizon Europe available at https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/common/guidance/list-3rd-country-participation_horizon-euratom_en.pdf.]]. In any case, the association agreement to the Programme must apply by the time of the signature of the grant agreement. For the duly justified and exceptional reasons listed in the paragraph above, in order to guarantee the protection of the strategic interests of the Union and its Member States, entities established in an eligible country listed above, but which are directly or indirectly controlled by a non-eligible country or by a non-eligible country entity, may not participate in the action unless it can be demonstrated, by means of guarantees positively assessed by their eligible country of establishment, that their participation to the action would not negatively impact the Union’s strategic assets, interests, autonomy, or security. Entities assessed as high-risk suppliers of mobile network communication equipment within the meaning of ‘restrictions for the protection of European communication networks’ (or entities fully or partially owned or controlled by a high-risk supplier) cannot submit guarantees.[[ The guarantees shall in particular substantiate that, for the purpose of the action, measures are in place to ensure that: a) control over the applicant legal entity is not exercised in a manner that retrains or restricts its ability to carry out the action and to deliver results, that imposes restrictions concerning its infrastructure, facilities, assets, resources, intellectual property or know-how needed for the purpose of the action, or that undermines its capabilities and standards necessary to carry out the action; b) access by a non-eligible country or by a non-eligible country entity to sensitive information relating to the action is prevented; and the employees or other persons involved in the action have a national security clearance issued by an eligible country, where appropriate; c) ownership of the intellectual property arising from, and the results of, the action remain within the recipient during and after completion of the action, are not subject to control or restrictions by non-eligible countries or non-eligible country entity, and are not exported outside the eligible countries, nor is access to them from outside the eligible countries granted, without the approval of the eligible country in which the legal entity is established.]] described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. 4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes. 5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes. 5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual. 5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes. 6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2021-2027) – and in actions under the Research and Training Programme of the European Atomic Energy Community (2021-2025) [[This decision is available on the Funding and Tenders Portal, in the reference documents section for Horizon Europe, under ‘Simplified costs decisions’ or through this link: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/guidance/ls-decision_he_en.pdf ]]. described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes. Specific conditions described in the specific topic of the Work Programme.

    Who has won calls like this

    Organisations that most often win this call family · 119 past winners

    DEUTSCHES ZENTRUM FUR LUFT - UND RAUMFAHRT EV · DE
    26 wins
    led 3
    THALES ALENIA SPACE FRANCE SAS · FR
    23 wins
    led 5
    AIRBUS DEFENCE AND SPACE SAS · FR
    18 wins
    led 3
    OFFICE NATIONAL D'ETUDES ET DE RECHERCHES AEROSPATIALES · FR
    15 wins
    led 2
    CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRS · FR
    15 wins
    FRAUNHOFER GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FORDERUNG DER ANGEWANDTEN FORSCHUNG EV · DE
    12 wins

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