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    HORIZON-CL4-2026-SPACE-03-32

    Preparing demonstration missions for Earth Observation and Satellite telecommunication for Space solutions (Space Partnership)

    Closing soon · 9 daysLive official EU data

    SPACE · HORIZON-IA · TRL 7–8 · Needs partners

    3 Sep 2026
    Deadline
    €5M–€10M
    Indicative, per project
    ~4
    Grants expected
    119
    Past winners in this family

    What this call funds

    This call funds projects that develop and demonstrate advanced satellite technologies for Earth observation and satellite communications, aiming to raise them to near-flight-ready maturity. It supports building blocks like secure satellite communication systems, onboard data processing, AI-enabled space systems, and demonstrator missions that combine observation and communication capabilities. The goal is to strengthen Europe's competitiveness and independence in the global space and connectivity market.

    space technologies · artificial intelligence · telecom 6g · defence security · advanced manufacturing

    Who wins this

    Best suited for consortia of European space industry players, SMEs, research institutes and academia collaborating to bring mid-to-high TRL Earth observation and satellite communication technologies to demonstration stage.

    Could you win this call?

    We read your site to see what you build.

    The call in detail

    Indicative grant size
    €5M–€10M
    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 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 organisation, academia
    Also required
    Participation is limited to legal entities established in EU Member States, Norway and Iceland, and projects using satellite Earth observation/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, or security, participation is limited to legal entities established in Member States, Norway and Iceland. Proposals including entities established in countries outside the scope specified in the call/topic/action will be ineligible. 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 Eligible proposals submitted under this topic and exceeding all the evaluation thresholds will be awarded a STEP Seal [[ https://strategic-technologies.europa.eu/about/step-seal_en ]]. To ensure a balanced portfolio covering all the development areas described in the scope section, grants will be awarded to applications not only in order of ranking but at least also to one proposal that is the highest ranked within each development area, provided that the applications attain all 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. Some activities resulting from this topic may involve using classified background and/or producing of security sensitive results (EUCI and SEN). Please refer to the related provisions in section B Security — EU classified and sensitive information of the General Annexes.

    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
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    THALES ALENIA SPACE FRANCE SAS · FR
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    AIRBUS DEFENCE AND SPACE SAS · FR
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    OFFICE NATIONAL D'ETUDES ET DE RECHERCHES AEROSPATIALES · FR
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    CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRS · FR
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    FRAUNHOFER GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FORDERUNG DER ANGEWANDTEN FORSCHUNG EV · DE
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