Industrial Readiness for Affordable Ka-band User Terminals

Call for proposals PPPA-2026 Industrial Readiness for Affordable Ka-band User Terminals to advance industrial readiness of Ka-band terminal technologies for IRIS2 and GOVSATCOM. The estimated call budget is €20,000,000 with expected EU contribution per project between €7,000,000 and €20,000,000, up to three projects, awarded as lump sum grants at a 100 percent funding rate. Projects should normally run 18 to 36 months and are open to legal entities established in EU Member States that provide a mandatory ownership and control declaration and carry out activities in the EU. Projects must deliver tangible industrial outputs such as qualified production processes, pilot-run units or validated manufacturing equipment chains and be submitted electronically via the Funding and Tenders Portal by 26 August 2026 at 17:00 CET.

Call: Innovative User Terminals for European Secure Satellite Communication Service (PPPA-2026-IRIS2-UT-IND-READINESS)

Quick facts

What it funds:Industrial-readiness activities to reduce cost and enable volume production of Ka-band user terminals for IRIS2 and GOVSATCOM. Funded outputs must be tangible industrial deliverables such as qualified production processes, calibrated sub-assemblies, pilot production runs, validated manufacturing equipment chains, or manufacturing cost models. Pure studies alone are not sufficient.

Scope highlights:Focus on technologies/subsystems at TRL 5+ across the full Ka-band (commercial and military ranges), addressing antenna subsystem industrialisation, manufacturing processes and equipment, supply-chain resilience, and modem/baseband industrial readiness for 5G NR NTN. Proposals must show clear links to terminal cost, manufacturability and deployment readiness and be adaptable across terminal variants ¹.

1. 1Eligible applicants: legal entities (public or private) established in EU Member States; executive management and activities must be in the EU and entities must not be controlled by a third country (mandatory ownership and control declaration).
2. 2Project size and duration: typically 18–36 months; activities should support production scenarios on the order of ~1 000 units/month at scale.
3. 3Budget per project: expected grant amounts between €7 000 000 and €20 000 000; total call budget €20 000 000 with up to three projects expected to be funded.

Evaluation:single-stage submission via the Funding & Tenders Portal; award criteria emphasise relevance (30%), implementation quality (30%) and industrial impact/cost-reduction potential (40%). Proposals must include a detailed budget table and ownership/control declarations; security clearance may be required for actions involving classified information.

Footnotes

1. 1Full topic description, eligibility rules, templates and submission via the Funding & Tenders Portal: Topic page.

Call and Administrative Details

Call title:Innovative User Terminals for European Secure Satellite Communication Service. Topic identifier: PPPA-2026. Type of action: PPPA Pilot Projects and Preparatory Actions (action grants). Call opening date: 27 May 2026. Submission deadline: 26 August 2026, 17:00 CET (Brussels). Submission method: single-stage electronic submission via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal Electronic Submission System. Contact for call questions (non-IT): DEFIS-GOVSATCOM@ec.europa.eu. IT Helpdesk for portal technical support.

Available budget and project funding range:Total estimated available budget for this call: €20 000 000. Expected to fund up to three projects (call document states up to three projects; budget overview lists expectedGrants: 2). Indicative project grant amount range: typically between €7 000 000 and €20 000 000 per project. Funding modality: lump sum grants with a funding rate of 100% of the lump sum. Projects may have additional costs not covered by the lump sum; the existence of such additional costs is expected and will be assessed during evaluation.

Scope, Objectives and Expected Impact

Objective:Advance industrial readiness of European Ka-band user terminal technologies, subsystems and manufacturing processes to enable cost-effective, volume production of user terminals for the Union secure connectivity programme (IRIS²) and GOVSATCOM. Target reference: Ka-band user terminals operating with non-geostationary satellite constellations (LEO and MEO) and aligned with 5G NR NTN terminal development paths. Frequency coverage: commercial Ka-band (17.7-20.2 GHz downlink, 27.5-30.0 GHz uplink) and military Ka-band (20.2-21.2 GHz downlink, 30.0-31.0 GHz uplink). Projects should leverage commonality between governmental and commercial variants to maximise production volumes and cost reduction.

Expected impact and outputs:Tangible industrial outputs demonstrating improved readiness and affordability of Ka-band terminals. Examples of acceptable primary outputs: qualified production processes, calibrated sub-assemblies, pilot-run units, validated manufacturing equipment chains, manufacturing cost models. Purely analytical deliverables (studies, design reports) are not sufficient as primary outputs but may complement industrial outputs. Outputs should include documented design assumptions, interface parameters or process specifications (where relevant) to enable adaptation to different terminal configurations with limited re-engineering and support later integration, pilot deployment and scale-up.

Scope details and eligible activities

Projects must present a coherent approach to improving affordability, manufacturability and production readiness of Ka-band user terminals. Activities must be relevant across the full Ka-band and address technologies/subsystems mature enough for near-term industrialisation (minimum TRL 5 at action start). Target production scale assumed for solutions is on the order of 1000 units per month at scale on a multi-year horizon. Actions shall address one or more priority areas (see list below). Projects must demonstrate a clear link to cost, manufacturability or deployment readiness of a complete Ka-band user terminal.

1. 1Antenna-subsystem industrial readiness: assembly, calibration, test processes, including phased array and other advanced antenna subsystems (antenna is the dominant cost driver).
2. 2Manufacturing processes and equipment: activities enabling improved throughput, repeatability and unit-cost reduction; pilot production runs to demonstrate manufacturing feasibility, yield and repeatability.
3. 3Supply-chain measures: reducing critical dependencies on non-European sources, strengthening European industrial capability for terminal components, and presenting mitigation measures for non-EU dependencies.
4. 4Modem and baseband industrial readiness: industrialisation of 5G NR NTN compliant baseband and modem subsystems and migration paths toward volume-production architectures.

Eligibility and Applicant Types

General eligibility:Applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must be legal entities (public or private bodies) established in EU Member States (including OCTs). Executive management structures must be established in EU Member States. Resulting activities must be carried out in one or more EU Member States. Legal entities must NOT be subject to control by a third country or third country entity. A mandatory declaration on ownership and control must be submitted for all project participants and will be assessed during grant preparation. Beneficiaries and affiliated entities must register in the Participant Register (obtain PIC) and be validated by the Central Validation Service.

Eligible applicant types:Eligible applicants include private companies (startups, SMEs, large enterprises), manufacturing firms, system integrators, universities, research organisations and institutes, public bodies (national/regional authorities), defence industry actors established in EU Member States, non-profit organisations and other legal entities established in eligible EU countries. Associated partners, subcontractors, affiliated entities and third parties giving in-kind contributions may participate with the appropriate roles. International organisations are generally not eligible. Entities from non-EU countries may be exceptionally eligible if their participation is considered essential by the granting authority. Individuals as sole applicants are not indicated as eligible; applicants must be legal entities.

Geographic scope and restrictions

Beneficiary scope:Participation is limited to entities established in EU Member States (including overseas territories). Executive management and the implementation of activities must be within EU Member States. Entities under control of non-EU third countries are ineligible. Exceptional waivers for entities from other countries may be granted only where essential for implementation. International organisations are not eligible.

Consortium requirement and composition

Consortium requirement:A multi-party consortium is encouraged to bring complementary competences across the value chain (antenna, RF front-end, baseband, manufacturing, supply chain and test/calibration capabilities). However, consortium composition is not formally mandatory; single-beneficiary proposals are permitted. Applicants should ensure roles are appropriate (beneficiaries or affiliated entities for main participants; associated partners/subcontractors for non-funded support). Subcontracting should be exceptional and justified; subcontracting above 30% of total eligible costs must be explicitly justified.

Project maturity, duration and size

Project stage and TRL:Proposals must target technologies/subsystems with at least Technology Readiness Level 5 or above at project start (ready to support near-term industrialisation). Expected project duration: normally 18 to 36 months; longer durations may be accepted with justification. Production scenarios considered: target scale on the order of 1000 units per month at scale (multi-year horizon).

Funding type and modality

Primary funding mechanism:grant (lump sum grant). The grant will be fixed as a lump sum amount determined by the granting authority based on the detailed budget table/calculator and the lump sum authorising decision. Funding rate for the lump sum calculation is 100%. The lump sum calculation must follow the methodology set out in the lump sum authorising decision and use the detailed budget table. The grant is expected to require co-financing in practice because some costs may not be covered by the lump sum; applicants must present a credible business case and budget that approximates actual eligible costs.

Nature of financial support:Monetary support: lump sum action grants paid to the coordinator. Non-monetary expectations: projects are required to deliver industrial outputs (prototypes, pilot runs, qualified processes, validated equipment chains, etc.), documentation and IP/use of results rules apply per the Model Grant Agreement. Financial support to third parties is not allowed.

Budget, Payments and Financial Conditions

Available call budget:€20 000 000. Expected projects to be funded: up to three (call text) though an internal budget overview lists expectedGrants: 2. Indicative project grant range: €7 000 000 to €20 000 000. The grant will be paid as lump sums with 100% funding rate for the lump sum. Prefinancing: normally up to 50% of the maximum grant amount as prefinancing, paid after entry into force or receipt of prefinancing guarantee if required. Payment plan in the proposal should include interim payments linked to completion of work packages. The final amount will be determined at project closure and may trigger recovery if earlier payments exceed the final grant amount.

Application and Evaluation Process

Submission:single-stage open call via the Funding & Tenders Portal. Application consists of Part A (administrative data entered online) and Part B (technical description uploaded as PDF). Mandatory annexes: detailed budget table/calculator (used to derive lump sums), list of previous projects (last 4 years), Ownership and Control Declaration, CVs for key personnel if required and any other call-specific annexes. Proposal page limit: Part B maximum 70 pages; supporting annexes do not count toward the 70-page limit. Proposals must be fully complete and uploaded into the correct submission slots in the Portal; incomplete proposals will be deemed inadmissible.

Evaluation and award procedure:One-stage submission followed by one-step evaluation by an evaluation committee. Formal admissibility and eligibility checks precede evaluation. Evaluators assess operational capacity and award criteria, rank proposals and create reserve lists. Successful proposals will be invited to grant preparation; invitation is not a contractual funding commitment until legal checks (legal entity validation, financial capacity, exclusion, security clearance where applicable) are completed.

1. 1Relevance and strategic fit (30 points) — alignment with industrial readiness and cost reduction objectives, relevance to 5G NR NTN Ka-band terminal architectures, coverage of priority themes.
2. 2Quality and efficiency of the implementation (30 points) — technical soundness, team experience, work package breakdown, realism of milestones, risk treatment, resource adequacy.
3. 3Industrial impact and cost-reduction potential (40 points) — quantified cost reduction expectation where possible, contribution to enabling European volume production readiness, credible business case and scale-up plan, supply-chain risk assessment and industrial commitment, reusability across governmental and commercial variants.

Passing thresholds:individual criterion minima are 15/30, 15/30, 20/40 respectively and overall pass score 60/100. Proposals passing thresholds and within budget will be considered for funding. Ex aequo proposals are prioritised by the score on 'Industrial impact and cost-reduction potential' and then by additional criteria documented by the evaluation committee.

Selection, Legal and Security Requirements

Legal and financial checks take place during grant preparation:legal entity validation, financial capacity assessment and exclusion checks. The granting authority may require enhanced financial responsibility measures or prefinancing guarantees if financial capacity concerns arise. The Grant Agreement will include standard AGA provisions; for this call the lump sum Model Grant Agreement (MGA) and the lump sum authorising decision apply.

Security:Projects involving EU classified information will need to undergo security scrutiny and may be subject to specific security requirements (facility security clearance, personnel security clearances, secured handling and storage, security deliverables). Projects producing or handling EU classified information above allowed levels cannot be funded if classification is TRES SECRET UE/EU TOP SECRET. Subcontracting tasks involving classified information require prior written approval and are restricted to entities established in EU Member States or countries with adequate security agreements.

Application templates, forms and structure

Application forms and templates are provided in the Portal Submission System. Use the templates inside the Submission System for submission; documents on the Topic page are for information only. Required application components and structure are summarized below.

Project planning, deliverables and reporting

Workplan and deliverables:Proposals must define coherent work packages and deliverables. Each work package must correspond to a single lump sum amount. The detailed budget must show breakdown by beneficiary/affiliated entity and budget category for each work package. Deliverables should be focused, limited in number (typical guideline 10-15 deliverables maximum) and must include verifiable industrial outputs (pilot units, certified production processes, manufacturing equipment validation, calibration procedures, cost models, demonstrators) rather than purely analytical reports.

Reporting and payments:Progress reports are typically expected every 6 to 12 months. Payment schedule should identify interim payments linked to satisfactory completion of work packages. Final payment will reconcile earlier payments and the final grant amount; overpayments must be recovered.

Key obligations and restrictions

1. 1Financial support to third parties (cascading funding) is NOT allowed.
2. 2No double funding: costs may not be covered by another EU grant; any overlaps must be declared and avoided.
3. 3Consortium agreement recommended for multi-beneficiary projects to define internal arrangements and redistribution of grant.
4. 4Subcontracting should be exceptional; subcontracting above 30% of total eligible costs must be justified.
5. 5Projects must comply with EU restrictive measures and conditionality rules; entities subject to EU restrictive or conditionality measures are ineligible.
6. 6Transparency: beneficiary names, addresses, purpose and awarded maximum amounts will be published unless a waiver is justified.

Administrative and operational checks before award

Before signature of Grant Agreement the granting authority will perform legal entity validation, financial capacity checks and exclusion assessments. If financial capacity is not satisfactory, measures may include requesting further information, imposing an enhanced financial responsibility regime, prefinancing guarantees or no prefinancing. Facility security clearance may be required before grant signature for projects handling EU classified information.

Application stages and timeline

1. 1Stage 1: Proposal preparation and single-stage submission via the Portal (Part A online, Part B PDF, mandatory annexes).
2. 2Stage 2: Admissibility and eligibility checks followed by expert evaluation and ranking (evaluation Sept-Oct 2026; result information October 2026).
3. 3Stage 3: Invitation to grant preparation for successful proposals, legal/financial/security checks, negotiation and signature of Grant Agreement (expected GA signature Nov/Dec 2026).

For the purposes of classification requested below, this implies a single-stage submission and an evaluation + grant preparation phase; applicants must clear both to receive funding.

Success rate and likely competition

The call does not publish a formal success rate. The call budget is €20 million and expects to fund up to 2-3 projects. The likely success rate depends on the number and quality of proposals received; historically action calls of this type are competitive and success rates can be low (single-digit to low-double-digit percentages) but an exact figure is not provided in the call documentation.

Co-funding requirements

The lump sum grant will be fixed at 100% funding rate for the lump sum. Nevertheless the call text explicitly expects that projects will involve additional costs not covered by the lump sum, thereby ensuring co-financing by beneficiaries. Applicants must present a credible business case and production scale-up plan showing resources beyond the EU lump sum to reach mass production. Therefore co-funding is required in practice as uncovered costs or own contributions.

Security and classified information

If the project involves EU classified information (EUCI) or national classified information, specific security rules apply (facility security clearance, personnel security clearances, secured areas, secured handling). Projects with TRES SECRET UE/EU TOP SECRET materials cannot be funded. Subcontracting of tasks involving EUCl requires prior written approval and is limited to entities established in EU Member States or in non-EU countries with appropriate security agreements. Security deliverables and restrictions (security aspects letter) will be annexed to the Grant Agreement where needed.

Target sectors and technologies

Primary thematic sectors targeted:space and satellite communications, secure connectivity (IRIS2 and GOVSATCOM), telecommunications (5G NR NTN), defence-related secure communications, manufacturing and industrialisation of terminal components, antenna and phased-array technology, RF front-end and baseband/modem subsystems, supply-chain resilience for electronics and components, test & calibration equipment and production automation.

Mentioned technology and system elements:Phased array electronically steered antennas, antenna-subsystem assembly, automated calibration and test processes, RF front-end sub-assemblies, modem and baseband processing subsystems compliant with 5G NR NTN, manufacturing equipment and facility upgrades, production testing and calibration chains, cost modelling and production scale-up architecture, supply chain measures for critical components.

Project deliverable examples and measurable outputs

1. 1Qualified production processes and process specifications that can be transferred to different terminal variants.
2. 2Pilot-run units or representative pilot production batches demonstrating yield, repeatability and throughput.
3. 3Calibrated sub-assemblies and validated assembly/test/calibration procedures, including factory calibration flows and compliance traces.
4. 4Validated manufacturing equipment chains and facility upgrades demonstrating capacity to reach targeted production rates.
5. 5Manufacturing cost models and quantified unit-cost reduction estimates with clear basis and assumptions.
6. 6Modem/baseband industrialisation demonstrators and migration paths toward volume-production architectures.

What applicants must demonstrate in proposals

1. 1Clear industrialisation pathway from TRL≥5 to volume production and evidence of readiness for follow-on integration/deployment.
2. 2Credible business case and production scale-up plan (demand assumptions, production volumes, timeline beyond grant period).
3. 3Supply-chain risk assessment and mitigation measures targeting reduction of non-EU dependencies.
4. 4Quantified cost-reduction potential and the basis for expected unit-cost improvements where possible.
5. 5Demonstrable capability and experience of the consortium to deliver industrial and manufacturing outputs (including pilot production, calibration, testing and quality assurance).
6. 6Plan for reuse/adaptation of outputs across both governmental and commercial terminal variants to maximise production volumes.

Administrative templates and guidance summary

Applicants must use the specific Application Form templates provided inside the Submission System: Standard PPPA Application Form (Part A generated in the system; Part B technical template to download, complete and upload), Standard Detailed Budget Table (used to derive lump sums), and the Ownership and Control Declaration template. The Part B template includes a cover page, project summary, sections on relevance, quality, impact, work plan, detailed work packages with deliverables, risk management, ethics and security self-assessments and annex list. Part B must not exceed 70 pages; formatting rules (A4, Arial 9pt minimum, margins) apply. All mandatory annexes must be uploaded in the correct submission slots.

Evaluation criteria and scoring (detailed)

Thresholds:minimum per-criterion scores are 15/30, 15/30, and 20/40 respectively. Overall minimum score 60/100. Proposals meeting both individual and overall thresholds will be considered for funding within budget availability.

Important practical notes and risks for applicants

1. 1Do not wait until the last day to submit; portal congestion or technical issues are at the applicant's risk and deadlines are strict.
2. 2Ensure all participants are registered in the Participant Register and validated as needed before submission (PIC codes).
3. 3Ensure the detailed budget table is consistent with the summarised budget in Part A; in case of discrepancy the online summarised budget prevails.
4. 4Declare any potential overlap with other EU, ESA or national programmes and explicitly describe complementarities without duplication; supporting documentation may be requested.
5. 5If security-relevant activities are included, prepare for potential facility security clearance requirements before grant signature.
6. 6Subcontracting should be limited and justified; coordinator tasks cannot be subcontracted.

Answers to the requested categorisation questions

Below are explicit, structured answers to the categorisation questions based on the call text and supporting documents.

Eligible Applicant Types:Legal entities established in EU Member States: startups, SMEs, large enterprises, manufacturing companies, system integrators, universities, research institutes, defence industry companies, public bodies (national/regional authorities), non-profit organisations. Associated partners, subcontractors, affiliated entities and third parties giving in-kind contributions may participate in appropriate roles. International organisations are not eligible. Entities controlled by non-EU third countries are ineligible unless a waiver is granted for exceptional essential participation. Individuals as sole applicants are not eligible.

Funding Type:Grant (lump sum grant). The grant will be a lump sum fixed on the basis of the detailed budget table and the lump sum authorising decision; funding rate applied for lump sum calculation is 100%.

Consortium Requirement:Other: consortium is encouraged and multi-disciplinary teams are recommended, but a consortium is not formally mandatory. Single-beneficiary submissions are allowed. Applicants should ensure sufficient complementary competences across the chain if choosing a consortium approach.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility):EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories). Executive management structures of participating entities must be established in EU Member States and project activities must be carried out in EU Member States. Participation of entities from non-EU countries is exceptional and subject to specific approval.

Target Sector:Space and satellite communications (Ka-band user terminals), secure connectivity (IRIS2 and GOVSATCOM), telecommunications (5G NR NTN), defence/secure communications, manufacturing and industrialisation processes, antenna and phased-array technologies, RF electronics, baseband/modem industrialisation, test & calibration equipment, supply-chain resilience for terminal components.

Mentioned Countries:Explicitly: EU Member States (general requirement). No individual EU Member States are singled out in the topic text. International organisations are excluded. Exceptional participation by non-EU entities may be allowed only if deemed essential by the granting authority.

Project Stage:Expected maturity at start: at least TRL 5 or above (research/validation completed; system/subsystem demonstrated in relevant environment). Focus on industrialisation, validation, demonstration and scale-up toward mass-production readiness.

Funding Amount:Indicative range: €7 000 000 to €20 000 000 per project. Call-level budget: €20 000 000 total. Expected number of projects funded: up to three (call text) though budget overview shows expectedGrants=2 for mapping — applicants should plan within the indicated per-project range. Awarded grant may be lower than requested.

Application Type:Open single-stage call (open to applicants who meet eligibility); proposals are submitted electronically through the Funding & Tenders Portal before the deadline.

Nature of Support:Monetary support (lump sum grant). Non-monetary outputs are required as deliverables (industrial demonstrators, pilot production outputs, validated manufacturing chains, test/calibration artifacts and cost models). Financial support to third parties is not allowed.

Application Stages:Two principal application stages exist: (1) one-stage submission and expert evaluation; (2) grant preparation (legal/financial/security checks) and Grant Agreement signature. For planning purposes, treat this as 2 main stages with sub-steps during grant preparation.

Success Rates:Not specified by the call. The call budget and expected number of projects (2-3) give an upper bound on awards, but the actual success rate depends on the total number of high-quality submissions. No precise historical success rate is provided; applicants should assume a competitive process.

Co-funding Requirement:Direct co-funding (mandatory percentage) is not specified because the award is a lump sum at 100%. However, the call expects projects to involve additional costs not covered by the lump sum (i.e., co-financing by applicants / other resources). Applicants must demonstrate a credible business case and resources to sustain production scale-up beyond the grant period.

Templates and Application Form Structure (guidance for applicants)

Main application documents and structural guidance (all templates are available in the Submission System and must be used as provided):

1. 1Part A: Application Form Part A (online fields). Administrative data: project title, acronym, duration, coordinator and participants (PIC), summarised budget, declarations of eligibility, ownership and control confirmations. The portal generates Part A screens and validation checks.
2. 2Part B: Technical Description (download template, complete and upload as PDF). Structured sections include project summary, 1) Relevance (background, objectives, needs analysis, complementarities), 2) Quality (concept, methodology, consortium set-up, project team, management, QA, risk management), 3) Impact (industrial impact, dissemination, sustainability), 4) Work Plan (work packages, milestones, deliverables, timelines, resources), 5) Ethics and 6) Security. Page limit Part B: 70 pages.
3. 3Detailed Budget Table (Annex 1): Mandatory. Use the provided detailed budget/calculator to derive the lump sum. Show for each work package the estimated eligible costs by beneficiary and budget category. The online summarised budget in Part A must match the detailed budget table.
4. 4List of Previous Projects (last 4 years) template: mandatory to substantiate operational capacity.
5. 5Ownership and Control Declaration form: mandatory for all participants; must be assembled by the coordinator in a single file.
6. 6CVs and supporting documents: provide CVs for key staff if requested; legal and financial supporting documents will be required during grant preparation but not necessarily at submission stage.
7. 7Security and ethics self-assessments: complete the security issues table and the ethics issues table in the Part B template. If EU classified information is involved, prepare for SAL and national security clearance processes.

Formatting rules and submission technicalities:Part B must respect layout limits (A4, minimum 9pt Arial, margins at least 15 mm). Excess pages beyond 70 will be disregarded. All documents must be uploaded in the correct submission slots. After submission applicants receive a digitally signed PDF confirmation; if no confirmation arrives, the proposal was not submitted.

Summary: What this opportunity is about and how to approach it

This call aims to finance pilot projects and preparatory industrialisation activities that materially increase European readiness to produce affordable Ka-band user terminals at scale for IRIS2 and GOVSATCOM secure services. The Commission seeks demonstrable industrial outputs (pilot production, qualified processes, calibrated sub-assemblies, validated equipment chains, and manufacturing cost models) from projects that start from at least TRL5 and present clear routes to mass production at the order of 1000 units per month. Proposals must be grounded in a credible business case and supply-chain analysis, show how manufacturing and test/calibration processes will reduce unit cost, and demonstrate how outputs can be adapted across governmental and commercial terminal variants. The grant is provided as a lump sum (€7–€20Mtypical per project) and requires a detailed budget justification using the provided budget calculator. Applicants should assemble consortia or single entities with manufacturing, antenna, RF, baseband/modem, test and supply-chain expertise; ensure legal and financial validation readiness; and plan for potential security clearance if classified information is involved. Submit a clear, concise Part B (<=70 pages) with structured work packages, measurable milestones and deliverables focused on industrial outputs rather than solely analytical studies. For full legal, financial and procedural details refer to the call document and the Submission System templates. ¹

Footnotes

1. 1Call document and topic details are available on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal topic page: PPPA-2026-IRIS2-UT-IND-READINESS Topic Page.

Overview of the Opportunity

Key Details and Funding Parameters

This call for proposals aims to advance the industrial readiness of European Ka-band user terminal technologies, subsystems, and manufacturing processes to enable cost-effective production for the Union secure connectivity programme (IRIS²) and GOVSATCOM [[1]][[5]]. The target reference is the Ka-band user terminal segment of IRIS², operating with non-geostationary satellite constellations in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) [[1]][[3]].

Call Budget:The estimated available call budget is €20,000,000, with up to three projects expected to be funded [[1]][[5]].

Grant Amount per Project:Expected EU contribution per project ranges between €7,000,000 and €20,000,000 [[1]][[7]].

Funding Rate:The grant is a lump sum grant with a funding rate of 100% of total eligible costs [[1]][[7]].

Project Duration:Projects should normally range between 18 and 36 months [[1]][[5]].

Submission Deadline:The deadline for submission is 26 August 2026 at 17:00 CET (Brussels time) [[1]][[5]].

Who Should Apply and Eligibility

Eligible Participants and Countries

Applicants must be legal entities (public or private bodies) established in EU Member States, including overseas countries and territories [[1]][[7]]. International organisations are not eligible, and EU bodies (except the European Commission Joint Research Centre) cannot participate [[1]].

A mandatory declaration of ownership and control is required for all project participants to ensure executive management structures are in EU Member States and the entity is not controlled by a third country [[1]][[7]].

1. 1Legal entities established in EU Member States (including OCTs)
2. 2Entities with executive management structures in EU Member States
3. 3Entities not subject to control by a third country or third-country entity
4. 4Consortiums are encouraged but not formally required; complementary competences across the value chain are recommended [[1]][[5]]

Scope and Focus Areas

Priority Themes and Activities

Proposals must address a coherent approach to improving affordability, manufacturability, and production readiness for future Ka-band user terminals, focusing on technologies mature enough for near-term industrialisation (TRL5 or above) [[1]][[3]].

Activities must cover the full Ka-band frequency range, including commercial (17.7-20.2 GHz downlink, 27.5-30.0 GHz uplink) and military (20.2-21.2 GHz downlink, 30.0-31.0 GHz uplink) bands [[1]][[3]].

Eligible activities include industrial-readiness measures for cost-critical components, pilot production runs, calibration/test activities, acquisition of advanced manufacturing equipment, and supply-chain optimisation [[1]][[3]].

Expected Outputs and Impact

Tangible Industrial Deliverables

Projects must deliver tangible industrial outputs such as qualified production processes, calibrated sub-assemblies, pilot-run units, validated manufacturing equipment chains, or manufacturing cost models [[1]][[2]].

Purely analytical deliverables (studies, design reports) are not sufficient as primary outputs but may complement tangible results [[1]][[2]].

Outputs must include documented design assumptions and interface parameters enabling adaptation to different terminal configurations with limited re-engineering to support follow-on integration and scale-up [[1]][[3]].

Application and Evaluation Process

Submission Requirements and Criteria

Proposals must be submitted electronically via the Funding & Tenders Portal; paper submissions are not accepted [[1]][[5]].

The application consists of Part A (administrative information filled online) and Part B (technical description, max 70 pages) [[1]][[5]].

Mandatory annexes include a detailed budget table, list of previous projects (last 4 years), and the Ownership and Control Declaration [[1]][[5]].

1. 1Relevance and strategic fit (30 points): Alignment with IRIS² industrial readiness and 5G NR NTN architectures [[1]]
2. 2Quality and efficiency of implementation (30 points): Technical soundness, work breakdown, and risk management [[1]]
3. 3Industrial impact and cost-reduction potential (40 points): Quantified cost reduction, business case, and supply-chain resilience [[1]]

Proposals must pass individual thresholds (15/30, 15/30, 20/40) and an overall threshold of 60 points to be considered for funding [[1]].

Important Considerations for Applicants

Strategic and Security Requirements

Applicants must present a credible business case covering cost reduction rationale, production scale-up pathways, and alignment with foreseeable demand for IRIS² and GOVSATCOM terminals [[1]][[3]].

A dedicated section on supply-chain arrangements is required, identifying non-European dependencies and mitigation measures [[1]][[3]].

Projects involving EU classified information require security scrutiny and facility security clearance (FSC) before grant signature; no grants can be signed until at least one beneficiary has FSC [[1]].

The grant is a lump sum, meaning reimbursement is a fixed amount based on estimated eligible costs; co-financing is expected through additional costs not covered by the lump sum [[1]][[7]].

Footnotes

1. 1Official call document and submission details are available at EU Funding Portal.
2. 2For non-IT related questions, contact [[DEFIS-GOVSATCOM||DEFIS-GOVSATCOM@ec.europa.eu]]; Q&A deadline is 12 August 2026, 17:00 Brussels time [[1]].