Scores
Company Overview
Celestia Group is a pan-European multi-technology group specialising in ground segment technologies for the satellite communications industry. Annual revenue over €35 million, 200+ employees, engineering facilities in six European countries.
Two Celestia Group companies share stand F4:
- Celestia STS (Leiden, Netherlands) — Centre of excellence for EGSE and TT&C solutions. Contributed to 80%+ of all major ESA missions. 300+ EGSE systems delivered. JOSCAR registered (UK defence supply chain).
- Celestia UK (Edinburgh, Scotland) — Centre of excellence for electronically steered antenna (phased array) technology and Ka-band gateways. World's first Ka-band multi-beam phased array gateway.
New CEO George Gardner (appointed October 2025) has a background in defence primes including Thales and L3Harris — signalling a strategic push into defence and government markets.
Key Contacts at Stand F4
| Name | Title | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Bryan Tatman | Celestia STS (confirmed at stand) | ⭐ Primary — approach first |
| David Stam | Celestia STS (confirmed at stand) | ⭐ Primary — approach first |
| Dougie Johnman | COO, Celestia STS | Operational decision-maker |
| George Gardner | Group CEO | Strategic target — defence market expansion |
| Miguel Peña | Group Sales Director | Partnership discussions |
Products at Conference
Per Celestia STS's own conference announcement (25 February 2026):
"Laser SATCOMs, Optical Ground Station (OGS) Modems and much more. Yes the Dutch OGS Modems will be back in London 4-5 March."
- Optical Modem / Laser SATCOM — For free-space optical communications. Up to 10 Gbps. Used in ESA EAGLE-1 quantum key distribution satellite programme.
- TT&C Modem (TT&C-IMBU) — Integrated Modem and Baseband Unit for operational ground stations. Used in Galileo, Bepi Colombo, JUICE, Euclid, ExoMars, Solar Orbiter.
- Ka-Band Multi-Beam Gateway — World's first Ka-band multi-beam phased array gateway (Celestia UK).
- MPIP (Multi-Purpose Interface Platform) — Modular EGSE for spacecraft testing. Used in TRISHNA, Galileo Second Generation, ROSE-L, CRISTAL.
Relevance to 4Secure
EAGLE-1 QKD Programme — Direct Use Case
Celestia STS is supplying optical modems for the ESA EAGLE-1 satellite, which is specifically a quantum key distribution security mission. The ground station infrastructure for EAGLE-1 will almost certainly require cross-domain security controls between the optical ground station network and the key management/distribution network. This is a direct TrustedFilter use case.
Ground Station Cross-Domain Requirements
Satellite ground stations receive downlinked data from satellites (often classified or sensitive) and must pass that data to mission control systems at different classification levels. Celestia STS operates ground stations for Galileo (EU navigation infrastructure), ESA Copernicus, and defence-adjacent missions.
Technical Compatibility
Celestia STS's ground station equipment runs on 19" rack-mount Linux-based server platforms with standard Ethernet interfaces. These platforms are technically capable of hosting Docker/OCI containers. TrustedFilter would run on the server/control layer alongside the signal processing hardware.
Engagement Strategy
Follow-Up Actions
| When | Action |
|---|---|
| Within 48 hours | Send TrustedFilter brief with specific reference to EAGLE-1 QKD ground station security |
| Within 5 days | Request meeting with George Gardner (Group CEO) or Dougie Johnman (COO) |
| Within 2 weeks | Explore TrustedFilter as standard security component in Celestia's defence ground station bids |