In a major coup for the Oxfordshire-based space company as the UK seeks to build its own sovereign connectivity architecture, Open Cosmos has been selected by the British Government Commercial Agency (GCA) as an officially certified and vetted partner to provide satellite connectivity via its ConnectedCosmos, low Earth orbit (LEO) constellation.
The contract has an estimated value of up to £8bn and is mapped to a series of upcoming MoD contracts was placed under the auspices of the UK government’s TacSys (Tactical Communication System) framework procurement vehicle which is designed to provide central government and wider public sector organisations with specialised military grade tactical communication and information systems.
Running until June 2034, TacSys will provide the framework through which innovative private sector technologies will be integrated into the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) owned capabilities for the purpose of secure and resilient communications.
Open Cosmos is claimed to be one of Europe’s fastest growing space infrastructure companies. In October 2025, the firm was selected by the Spanish Space Agency and the European Space Agency to lead the development of the Spanish component of the Atlantic Constellation, the largest Earth observation constellation ever contracted in Spain.
Open Cosmos’ LEO constellation combines point-to-point broadband with direct-to-device IoT, enabling governments to detect threats in real time and deliver actionable, space-derived intelligence directly into tactical networks, applications and decision-making systems.
In this way, ConnectedCosmos delivers an “active” resiliency service, to detect threats, monitor sovereign assets and deliver real-time intelligence to the tactical edge – wherever they operate.
In what Open Cosmos said is an increasingly polarised geopolitical landscape, ConnectedCosmos will support the UK’s ambition to establish a resilient sovereign network, mitigating the risk of over-reliance on transcontinental mega-constellations.
Similarly, through the use of its Optical Inter-Satellite-Links (ISL), the system is described as “gateway less” and routes data directly between satellites. Open Cosmos said this provides a more secure network, avoiding potentially compromised subsea cables and hostile terrestrial infrastructure.
To achieve approved status, Open Cosmos satellite design and space mission delivery track record were evaluated against the framework’s core criteria. The result is said to demonstrate strong alignment with the MoD’s goals for high interoperability, rapid deployment and national space sovereignty.
ConnectedCosmos serves as a multi-layer LEO architecture, providing the sovereign space and data layer directly aligned with the MoD’s £7.5bn investment in the Digital Backbone and Targeting Web. By integrating IoT sensing and broadband communications into a single orbital framework, ConnectedCosmos is claimed to be able to collapses traditional programmatic silos to deliver machine-speed data fusion.
Within this framework, communication, data, decision-making and context come together for actionable insights and rapid response, within a closed, secure loop.
Commenting on being selected as an approved supplier to the TacSys framework, Open Cosmos founder and CEO Rafel Jordà Siquier said: “The British government recognises the need for a modern, sovereign-controlled satellite network over the UK, one which will not only deliver high speed connectivity, but offers secure data transfer and layered architecture options for future readiness. We’ve been working tirelessly to build capability that directly serves governments and maps to their specific needs, not a solution that has to be retrofitted for purpose.”
