European Space Agency and EnSilica partner to enable fully integrated ASICs for resilient GNSS
In partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA), EnSilica will design and develop a key silicon component to enable next-generation resilient multi-band Global Navigation Satellite System (“GNSS”) capabilities. These are vital to ensuring the world’s critical infrastructure and services remain robust and secure in the face of evolving global threats.
The ESA, NAVISP Element 2 programme helps to increase the competitiveness of participating European states in the global market for satellite navigation and enables these countries to be well positioned to capitalise on emerging market opportunities across Positioning, Navigation and Timing (“PNT”) technologies and services.
EnSilica has a growing satellite communications market footprint and is working with support from ESA and UKSA, with the latter organisation awarding the Company £10.38 million in February 2025 for a development project under its Connectivity in Low Earth Orbit programme. Part of the company’s expertise is in architecting and implementing systems-on-chip with high-performance RF, including mmWave, and complex baseband processing.
Paul Morris, VP RF and Communications Business Unit at EnSilica, said, “As we and our infrastructure become ever more dependent on PNT services in everyday life, it is important to have highly integrated, resilient, and precise technology sourced in Europe and the UK. This collaboration will allow us to accelerate such technology, starting with a next-generation radio design enabling our partners to focus on integrating their custom algorithms.”
Ian Lankshear, Chief Executive Officer of EnSilica, added, “I am extremely proud of our team to have been secured this agreement under the ESA NAVISP Element 2. This project will enable us to further enhance global navigation satellite systems technology and continue to develop commercial solutions that are critical for resilient and reliable satellite navigation. We are grateful for the ongoing support from ESA and the UKSA, and we continue to focus on PNT and the broader satellite communications market as a key growth driver of our business.”.
