Telecoms & Satellite Communications Guide Cyprus

CyprusProfile Digital Series
Telecoms & Satellite Communication
Another major player in satellite
services is Greek-Cypriot consortium
Hellas Sat, which was formed in 2001.
This agreement helped put Cyprus on
the global satellite map and was an important
step in strengthening the country’s
position as a successful regional satellite
communications centre. In 2019,
the company successfully launched its
third satellite, Hellas Sat 4, into orbit.
The launch started a new chapter in the
Cyprus has already
successfully capitalised on
its location at the crossroads
of Europe, Asia and Africa on
many economic fronts, and
can continue to strengthen its
role as a convenient regional
communications base of
strategic importance.
space history of Cyprus and Greece with its mission to provide innovative satellite
services and expand the operations of Hellas Sat in Europe, the Middle East and
Africa – which will bring further geopolitical, technological and commercial benefits
to both countries.
The new satellite will extend capacity and geographical reach to meet the
growing demand for applications that include video, internet and mobile phone
services, maritime connectivity, cellular backhaul, corporate networks and government
services. It is also the most advanced commercial communications satellite
ever built by Lockheed Martin.
Cyprus has been gaining ground in the field of space-tech services and has so far
granted 10 licences to organisations to launch telecommunication satellites using
space that Cyprus has secured through the International Telecommunications
Union (ITU). The number of licences is substantial, as many countries in the world
have issued only one licence. The country’s economic benefit from these services
is expected to multiply as more satellites are launched. This type of activity also
boosts the prestige of Cyprus as a country engaged in space technology services,
and its strategic advantages are increasingly promoted in a bid to attract infrastructure
to Cyprus from the European
Space Agency.
The growing sector has also inspired
new endeavours on the academic
front, such as the Eratosthenes Centre
of Excellence (ECoE), created by the
Cyprus University of Technology in
2018, to conduct research into space
technologies. Its Excelsior project is motivated
by the big European space programmes
like Galileo and Copernicus
and their downstream effects on
European economy and science. The
project’s vision is to establish the ECoE
as a world-class Digital Innovation Hub
(DIH) for earth observation and geospatial
information in the next few years
and becoming the reference centre in
the Eastern Mediterranean, Middle East
and North Africa (EMMENA).
20