The Franco-Italian partnership will combine mission-critical systems and European-built AI to develop trusted capabilities for satellite operations and Space Domain Awareness.
SIGNED IN PARIS
International Space Summit · 9 September 2026
Paris, 10 September 2026 – Sopra Steria, through its subsidiary CS GROUP, and AIKO have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly explore trusted Artificial Intelligence capabilities for satellite operations, Space Domain Awareness and Space Traffic Management. The agreement was signed during the International Space Summit in the presence of Adolfo Urso, Italy’s Minister of Enterprises and Made in Italy and delegated Authorityfor Space and Aerospace Policies, and Benjamin Haddad, France’s Deputy Minister to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, in charge of European Affairs.
The MoU brings together complementary expertise developed within two of Europe’s leading space ecosystems. Sopra Steria CS GROUP contributes decades of experience in mission-critical digital systems, satellite operations, ground segments and Space Domain Awareness. AIKO contributes European-built AI technologies for autonomous and increasingly efficient space operations. Together, the partners aim to turn Franco-Italian industrial cooperation into operational capabilities designed, developed and controlled in Europe.
The cooperation will assess the integration of AIKO technologies into GOSMIC, CS GROUP’s portfolio for satellite operations and mission management, and ASTREK, its operational platform for space surveillance, Space Traffic Management support and conjunction assessment services.
Turning AI into operational advantage
As satellite fleets grow and the space environment becomes more congested, operators must process more information, respond faster and make increasingly complex decisions. The collaboration will examine how trusted AI can absorb part of that operational complexity, helping teams identify what requires attention, anticipate issues and act on clearer, more timely information.
Within GOSMIC, this could make mission planning and routine operations more adaptive while allowing teams to detect changes in spacecraft behaviour earlier and preserve operational knowledge over time. Within ASTREK, AI could help operators distinguish relevant events from background activity, assess and prioritise collision risks, and build a more coherent picture from multiple sources of space-surveillance data. The objective is not to remove the operator from the loop, but to give people better tools for decisions where speed, context and accountability matter.
That is why trust is a central principle of the cooperation. The parties will evaluate approaches that keep AI-generated recommendations transparent, auditable and compatible with human supervision, requirements that are essential when AI is introduced into critical operational environments.
A Franco-Italian partnership built for Europe
Founded in Turin and embedded in Toulouse, AIKO brings together two complementary dimensions of Europe’s space ecosystem: Italy’s deep-tech and industrial heritage, and France’s experience in large-scale space programmes and mission-critical operations. The partnership with Sopra Steria - CS GROUP turns that shared European footprint into a practical foundation for developing and deploying new capabilities together.
In doing so, the agreement gives concrete industrial expression to the ambitions of the Quirinal Treaty. By combining French and Italian expertise, and keeping critical AI technologies, know-how and operational control within Europe, the partners aim to reduce strategic dependencies and strengthen Europe’s ability to operate, protect and manage its space infrastructure on its own terms.
“Europe already has the expertiseneeded to lead the next generation of space operations. The real opportunity is to connect that expertise and turn it into capabilities that European operators can trust and control. This partnership brings together our roots in Italy, our presence in France and Sopra Steria - CS GROUP’s operational experience to build technology in Europe, for Europe.”
Lorenzo Feruglio, CEO of AIKO
Europe does not lack technology or talent in space. Our challenge is to connect our capabilities and bring them to operational scale. This partnership does exactly that: combining Italian innovation in AI with French expertise in mission-critical space systems to build capabilities designed, developed and controlled in Europe. This is how we strengthen European sovereignty: through concrete cooperation that delivers operational capability
Rajesh Krishnamurthy, CEO of Sopra Steria
