EMS SATCOM UK LTD

Their core work

EMS SATCOM UK LTD supplies satellite communication equipment and avionics for commercial and business aviation, specializing in airborne SATCOM terminals and antenna systems that connect aircraft to ground networks. In H2020, they contributed technical expertise to SESAR and Clean Sky programs focused on the next generation of aviation Communication, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) — the data links and positioning technologies that keep aircraft safe and coordinated in increasingly crowded airspace. Their work sits at the intersection of aerospace hardware and air traffic management, specifically on multi-link connectivity that combines satellite, terrestrial and line-of-sight data links into an integrated aircraft communication stack. They participate as a third-party industrial supplier to larger consortium members rather than as a direct grantee.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Between 2014 and 2018 their contribution was broader and less specific in the CORDIS keyword record — framed around Large Passenger Aircraft integration (LPA GAM 2018) and the early CNS consolidation work of PJ14 EECNS. From 2019 onwards, their footprint sharpens around the SESAR 2020 Wave 2 agenda: hyper-connected ATM, the Future Communications Infrastructure (FCI), and concrete technology bricks such as LDACS, MULTILINK, ADS-B and alternative PNT. The trajectory shows a company moving from generic avionics participation toward the specific data-link and positioning technologies that will underpin single-sky digital airspace.

They are moving toward hyper-connected ATM and alternative PNT — a strong fit for consortia working on resilient, multi-link aircraft communication beyond GPS-only dependence.

How they like to work

They consistently participate as a third-party industrial contributor inside very large SESAR and Clean Sky consortia, never as coordinator or direct beneficiary. Across only three projects they appear alongside 124 different partners in 22 countries, which indicates they are being brought in as a specialist hardware supplier rather than as a repeat partner in a tight cluster. Working with them means accessing their SATCOM product and test expertise through an existing prime — not contracting them as a standalone grantee.

Connected to 124 partners across 22 countries through three SESAR/Clean Sky consortia, with an inherently European and transatlantic aerospace network given the Honeywell corporate linkage and UK base.

What sets them apart

Very few H2020 participants combine commercial airborne SATCOM product experience with active contribution to SESAR's CNS research agenda — this is their distinctive overlap. For a consortium that needs a real aviation hardware supplier at the table (not just a research lab) to ground-truth data-link concepts like FCI, LDACS or MULTILINK, they are one of the natural names. Their third-party status also makes them easier to involve than a full beneficiary — the prime carries the administrative weight.

Highlights from their portfolio

• PJ14-W2 I-CNSS
  Their most technically specific project — explicitly covers the full next-gen CNS stack (LDACS, SATCOM, MULTILINK, ADS-B, ATN-IPS, A-PNT) and runs into 2023, making it their most forward-looking engagement.
• PJ14 EECNS
  Predecessor SESAR CNS integration project that anchors their continuity of expertise from 2016 into Wave 2.
• LPA GAM 2018
  Clean Sky 2 Large Passenger Aircraft programme — their only non-SESAR project and evidence of aircraft-level (not just ATM-level) credibility.