SWISSto12 secures €73 million to accelerate HummingSat development
SWISSto12, a Lausanne-based aerospace manufacturer of satellite systems and radio frequency (RF) products, said it has secured €73 million in financial support from European Space Agency member states to advance its compact geostationary telecommunications satellite platform, HummingSat. The funding is being provided through the European Space Agency (ESA) under the ARTES partnership framework, and is intended to speed up development and industrialisation ahead of a planned first launch in 2027.
The company said the new capital will be used to accelerate engineering work on HummingSat, scale manufacturing capacity, and support new product innovation across its satellite communications portfolio. The satellite platform is being developed in collaboration with ESA via a public-private partnership programme aimed at strengthening European capabilities in connectivity and secure communications.
Funding backed by multiple ESA member states
According to the company, the additional support comes through the Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES) HummingSat Partnership Project, part of ESA Connectivity and Secure Communications. The initiative was backed at the 2025 ESA ministerial conference through pledges from Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Norway, and associate member Canada.
In parallel, SWISSto12 said it also raised additional capital from European private investors during the second half of 2025, bringing total funding raised to more than €100 million. The company did not disclose the size of the private investment tranche or participating investors.
Emile de Rijk: a signal to the market on European SatCom ambitions
Emile de Rijk, CEO and founder of SWISSto12, framed the combined public and private financing as a validation of the company’s positioning in the satellite communications market.
“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,” he said in a statement.
De Rijk added that the company’s strategy is centred on “agile, cost-effective and highly performant SatCom solutions,” and argued that these capabilities can help address a key geopolitical and industrial concern: satellite sovereignty. In the context of communications infrastructure, sovereignty typically refers to a nation’s ability to deploy and control critical space-based connectivity and services without relying on foreign-owned assets.
From EPFL spinoff to satellite systems manufacturer
SWISSto12 was founded in 2011 as a spinoff from de Rijk’s PhD work at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, EPFL. The company says its RF components are enabled by patented 3D-printing techniques and associated RF design approaches, targeting lighter, more compact hardware while maintaining performance requirements for space and ground communications systems.
The firm also highlights the origin of its name as a combination of “Swiss” precision and its early work with signals at terahertz frequencies (1012 Hz), describing the brand as “Swiss to the power of twelve.”
Smaller GEO satellites and reconfigurable payloads
The funding is intended to push the company’s broader thesis: that satellite communications can transition away from large, bespoke geostationary spacecraft that are expensive and slow to deploy, toward smaller platforms that can be built faster and operated more flexibly.
HummingSat is positioned as a compact alternative in the GEO (geostationary orbit) market, where satellites traditionally have long development cycles and high capital costs. SWISSto12 said its approach leverages software-defined and reconfigurable payload architectures, which can allow operators to adapt capacity and coverage over time as demand shifts.
The company said the platform is designed to help customers expand transponder capacity, introduce new services more quickly, and deploy sovereign capabilities. While many next-generation communications initiatives focus on non-geostationary constellations, the company’s messaging suggests it sees room for innovation in GEO as well, particularly where flexibility and time-to-market are becoming more important.
Phased-array antennas across LEO, MEO and GEO
Beyond HummingSat, SWISSto12 said it plans to invest further in phased-array antenna technologies for satellite payloads and ground products such as user terminals. The company said these technologies are intended to support communications to and from LEO (low Earth orbit), MEO (medium Earth orbit), and GEO, reflecting growing demand for multi-orbit networks and interoperability between different orbital regimes.
Phased-array antennas are widely viewed as a key enabling technology for modern satellite networks because they can electronically steer beams without mechanical movement, potentially improving performance and enabling more dynamic network architectures.
First launch planned with SES in 2027
SWISSto12 said the first HummingSat launch is scheduled for 2027 for SES, the Luxembourg-based satellite operator. The company did not provide additional details on mission configuration, launch provider, or contract value, but described the platform as “significantly smaller and more cost-efficient” than legacy geostationary satellites.
The announcement comes as European governments and industry players increase focus on strengthening regional space and communications capabilities, amid heightened competition and strategic concerns around infrastructure resilience. With ESA-backed support and additional private capital, SWISSto12 is positioning HummingSat as a new option for operators seeking faster deployment cycles and more adaptable GEO capacity.
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