European Space Agency (ESA) Member States have committed an additional €73 million in funding to Swiss satellite manufacturer SWISSto12 for its HummingSat programme, the company said, strengthening backing for a project aimed at reshaping the geostationary satellite market.
The funding commitment was made during the 2025 ESA Ministerial Council meeting and builds on earlier support secured for the HummingSat Partnership Project, which was launched in early 2022 under ESA’s Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES) programme. Partnership Projects provide co-funding for satellite operators and manufacturers developing new technologies for the telecommunications sector.
SWISSto12 said the additional funds will be used to accelerate development and industrialisation of the HummingSat platform and to scale up manufacturing capacity at its Renens-based operations. ESA Member States had previously pledged €30 million to the project at the 2022 Ministerial Council meeting in Paris.
“The recent subscriptions of Member States and Cooperating States at the ESA Ministerial Council to the HummingSat Project, and the latest round of funding from European private investors sends a strong message to the global market that SWISSto12 is at the heart of satellite communications innovation,” said Emile de Rijk, chief executive of SWISSto12.
The HummingSat platform is designed as a micro-geostationary satellite with a volume of about 1.5 cubic metres—roughly one-tenth that of a conventional geostationary satellite—and a launch mass of around 1,000 kg. The satellites are intended to operate in geostationary orbit approximately 36,000 km above Earth, with a planned operational lifetime of 15 years.
SWISSto12 has already secured commercial interest in the platform, selling one satellite to Intelsat and three to Viasat. Intelsat became the first customer in November 2022, although SWISSto12 said the launch of the first HummingSat satellite is now expected no earlier than 2027, later than originally planned.
The additional ESA-backed funding underscores continued European support for smaller, more flexible satellite platforms as demand grows for tailored geostationary communications solutions in a market traditionally dominated by much larger spacecraft.
