ORION - Orbital Resource Interoperability and Orchestration Network
Athens, Greece – May 28, 2026. Planetek Hellas, a D-Orbit group company, announced today the signature of a new €3.7 million European Commission Grant Agreement for ORION (Orbital Resource Interoperability and Orchestration Network, GA No. 101295766), a strategic initiative funded under the Horizon Europe Programme and focused on the development of secure, modular and interoperable architectures for next-generation collaborative Earth Observation (EO) and Satellite Communication (SatCom) space systems.
The activity is led by Planetek Hellas and brings together prominent European space and technology companies, including Thales Alenia Space France, Spain and Luxembourg, EnduroSat (BG), ALSO Space (BE) and Planetek Italia.
ORION originates from the strategic priorities and industrial recommendations developed through the consultation and co-programming processes between the European Commission’s DG DEFIS and the European space ecosystem under the framework of the SPACE AISBL Association and the Globally Competitive Space Systems (GCSS) Partnership.
ORION will develop and validate a hardware-agnostic orchestration framework enabling heterogeneous satellites and space assets to operate collaboratively through dynamic, mission-oriented workflows. By combining standardised interfaces, multi-platform orchestration, onboard edge processing and abstraction ontologies, the initiative aims to enable a new generation of distributed, intelligent, autonomous and sovereign space infrastructures.
Stelios Bollanos, CEO and Co-founder of Planetek Hellas, stated: “ORION reflects the direction we believe Europe must follow to strengthen its position in space: interoperable, software-defined and secure infrastructures capable of collaborative and autonomous operations, federated at European level while preserving national sovereignty. We are particularly proud that Planetek Hellas is leading this important European initiative together with some of the strongest industrial actors in the European space sector. Through ORION, we also see recognised the long-term investment that Planetek Hellas has consistently made over the past two decades in building expertise and capabilities, in close collaboration with the national and European space ecosystem.”
The ORION initiative has also been awarded the STEP Seal by the European Commission, recognising its strategic contribution to Europe’s technological sovereignty, resilience and competitiveness in next-generation space infrastructures and services.
“Project funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.”