The partnership combines Eutelsat’s global ground infrastructure with Skynopy’s software-defined orchestration technologies to offer the largest data download ground service for Low Earth Orbit satellites.
At the International Space Summit hosted by the President of the French Republic, Eutelsat and Skynopy announced the signing of a partnership establishing Global AKAR, a strategic partnership to develop one of the largest software-defined ground infrastructures for current and future satellite services, including Earth Observation, In-orbit services, orbital data centers and various telecommunication services.
By combining Eutelsat’s global footprint with Skynopy’s software technologies and commercial traction, the partnership aims to build on existing infrastructure to create a resilient, scalable, software-defined network capable of delivering near-real-time connectivity for Low Earth Orbit services. Skynopy has developed proprietary orchestration software and virtualized modem technology that can leverage existing ground antennas and give satellite operators a single interface to access them since their creation, with 17 sites operating to serve several dozen satellites. This partnership brings the service to a larger scale: it will enable selected Eutelsat ground station sites to serve a broader range of satellite operators and applications, while continuing to support Eutelsat’s own networks and customers.
Global AKAR aims to leverage Eutelsat’s global network of ground stations to create a data backbone for multi-mission constellations (Earth Observation, Orbital data centers, in-orbit services) in S, X, and Ka bands. The partnership is set to deploy more than 100 operational antennas at select sites by the end of 2029, enabling near-real-time, very high-throughput service for the fast-growing Low Earth Orbit (LEO) services market. The service is designed to significantly reduce data latency (less than 3 min compared to the current state of the art around 1 hour) while delivering up to 10 Gbps throughput through a software-defined ground network (compared to the current state of the art of 1-2 Gbps).
The program builds on the initial phase, already underway and partially supported by the French Government, which successfully demonstrated the concept’s technical feasibility through a three-antenna proof of concept for Earth Observation. The same infrastructure is designed to support a new generation of in-orbit services, enabling satellites to transfer data more efficiently and interact with in-orbit computing capabilities through secure, high-capacity, high-throughput connectivity.
Eutelsat brings sites from its globally distributed network of ground stations, nearly five decades of satellite operations expertise, and trusted relationships with institutional and commercial customers worldwide. Skynopy brings a new approach to the ground segment, combining cloud-native technologies, expertise in Earth Observation radiofrequency systems, and strong commercial traction, demonstrated over the past year by delivering demanding ground station service to players like Airbus Defense and Space and many international NewSpace satellite operators. Together, they combine global operational scale with software innovation to accelerate the deployment of strategic gateway infrastructure to serve the booming Low Earth Orbit economy. Global AKAR customers will benefit from access to a secure, high-capacity, globally distributed network without building and operating their own ground systems.
The Global AKAR service is designed to support commercial constellations by reducing data latency and increasing network flexibility, while its secure architecture and interfaces will also make it suitable for defense and other sensitive applications. The ground segment, long the forgotten pillar of space, is now becoming its central piece — and AKAR, “root” in Malay, is the response to that ambition.
