ESA Awarded Contract to OVHcloud and CGI for Data
The partners will build the Digital EO platform to process satellite data across three European countries.
Updated on Sept. 28, 2026 in Data Centers
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The European Space Agency has awarded a 30-month infrastructure contract to OVHcloud and CGI to develop the Digital EO system. This project establishes new storage and computing capacity for Earth observation data.
Why it matters
The initiative reflects the European Commission's strategic push to migrate critical research workloads to European-based providers. It aims to modernize the handling of massive datasets from programs like Copernicus and the EU digital twin of Earth.
The Digital EO infrastructure is designed to scale toward a projected 500 petabytes of satellite data by 2035. The system integrates storage, compute, and AI tools for use by researchers and public agencies.
The players
European Space Agency
An international organization dedicated to the exploration of space and Earth observation.
OVHcloud
A European cloud service provider offering compute, storage, and networking infrastructure.
CGI
A global information technology consulting and systems integration firm.
ICEYE
A provider of synthetic-aperture radar satellite data and imaging services.
Leonardo
An Italian aerospace, defense, and security company providing satellite technologies.
The details
OVHcloud will provide the fundamental computing, storage, and network capacity required to host large-scale datasets. CGI serves as the architect and systems integrator, linking these resources to the Copernicus program and the EU digital twin of Earth. The architecture is distributed, with deployment sites located in Italy, France, and Germany, while support operations are centralized in Poland.
Timeline
April 2026: ESA awarded a €180 million cloud tender.
September 2026: ESA awarded parallel study contracts to ICEYE and Leonardo.
September 28, 2026: The OVHcloud and CGI contract was announced.
2035: ESA is expected to hold 500 petabytes of Earth observation data.
The Tech Race
This project accelerates European efforts to build a sovereign data backbone for high-volume satellite observation. It follows earlier study contracts awarded to competitors like ICEYE and Leonardo in September 2026.
Researchers and public bodies will eventually gain access to a centralized pool of storage and AI tools optimized for large-scale Earth observation data. The project provides the technical foundation needed to manage data flows from major European satellite programs.
The takeaway
The development marks a significant move to consolidate European satellite data management under a centralized, sovereign infrastructure. Observers should track the integration of the Digital EO platform with existing Copernicus data streams as the architecture deploys across its three host countries.
Further reading
For more on evolving infrastructure requirements, explore our Data Centers section.
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