Liechtenstein Awards High-Priority Ka-Band Spectrum to Open Cosmos, Accelerating Europe’s Push for Sovereign LEO Connectivity

Europe’s race to secure a resilient, independent space communications infrastructure has taken a decisive step forward. The Principality of Liechtenstein has awarded its high-priority Ka-band radio spectrum filings to Open Cosmos, enabling the company to build and operate a new sovereign Low-Earth-orbit (LEO) broadband satellite constellation.

Spectrum rights are among the most strategically valuable assets in modern geopolitics, underpinning national security, economic competitiveness, and digital sovereignty. By entrusting these scarce filings to Open Cosmos, Liechtenstein is ensuring its allocated frequencies are put to immediate and effective use, while reinforcing Europe’s long-term ambition to reduce dependence on non-European satellite communications infrastructure.

Hubert Büchel, Liechtenstein’s Minister of Home Affairs, Economy, and Sport, emphasized the strategic intent behind the decision, noting that the award reflects the principality’s commitment to actively leveraging its spectrum assets through a capable and proven partner.

The move has also received strong backing from the United Kingdom. The UK Government supported Open Cosmos throughout the process, recognizing the broader industrial and strategic value of securing Ka-band capacity for a European-led constellation. UK Space Minister Baroness Liz Lloyd highlighted the award as a vote of confidence in British engineering and innovation, with the project expected to generate hundreds of highly skilled manufacturing and engineering roles at Open Cosmos’s Harwell facility in Oxfordshire, further strengthening the UK’s position in the global space economy.

With more than a decade of operations and a 100% mission success rate across telecommunications, Earth observation, and scientific satellites, Open Cosmos is now expanding its full-stack capabilities to include satellite connectivity and broadband communications. The new constellation is designed to deliver real-time, mission-critical data and communications services for government, enterprise, and institutional users, supporting faster decision-making in security, emergency response, climate monitoring, and infrastructure management across Europe and beyond.

“This is a defining moment for Open Cosmos and for Europe’s space ambitions,” said Rafel Jordá Siquier, Founder and CEO of the company. He emphasized that securing the Ka-band filings unlocks the ability to rapidly deploy a sovereign, resilient satellite network, leveraging Open Cosmos’s vertically integrated approach to design, manufacturing, launch, and in-orbit operations. The first satellites are expected to be deployed within weeks.

Open Cosmos currently delivers satellite missions for governments in the UK, Portugal, Greece, and Spain. The first two satellites of the new Liechtenstein-backed constellation are scheduled for launch in Q1 2026. Built at the company’s Harwell headquarters with contributions from engineering teams across Spain, Portugal, and Greece, the satellites underscore the collaborative nature of Europe’s space industrial base.

Launch services will be provided by Rocket Lab, with lift-off planned from Mahia, bringing Europe one step closer to a sovereign, secure, and scalable space-based broadband capability.