International Space Summit 2026

When space became software

At the International Space Summit 2026 in Paris, Sopra Steria's CEO Rajesh Krishnamurthy joins a round table on industries spatiales et non spatiales to make the case for the layer that decides whether Europe's space assets actually work together: the software underneath them.

Date & time

10 September 2026 - From 16:30 to 17:30

Venue

Paris - Grand Palais

Our vision for european space

Sopra Steria pairs a leading space team CS Group, Starion, Nexova with the reach of a major European digital group, so cybersecurity, AI and systems integration built for other industries can run space operations. Air Liquide illustrates the same crossover on hardware, supplying propellant systems for Ariane and Vega: proof that sovereign space needs both layers working together.
Sovereignty is not only a system's autonomy, it is whether Europe's systems can work with each other. Our ground-segment software GOSMIC cut the operators needed to run a 20-satellite constellation from up to twenty down to three: proof that the invisible layer of software, not a bigger antenna, is what makes satellites talk to each other.
Between June 2025 and May 2026, the Starlink constellation alone performed 355,000 collision-avoidance manoeuvres, a scale that makes federation, not duplication, the only sustainable path. Our Virtual Constellation concept federates missions, ground segments and data across Europe instead of building isolated systems.

Space sovereignty in figures

200 M

Sopra Steria's space revenue, delivered across 12 countries in Europe and Canada

2000

Specialists dedicated to space activities, after integrating Starion and Nexova

355K

Collision-avoidance manoeuvres performed by Starlink alone between June 2025 and May 2026

22.3B

ESA's record budget for 2026-2028, approved in December 2025

-85%

fewer operators needed per satellite constellation with Sopra Steria's GOSMIC ground segment

On the round table with Rajesh Krishnamurthy

"Space and non-space industries" a moderated discussion in front of 120 delegations on the challenges of the global space economy.

Summit program

People

Panellist

Rajesh Krishnamurthy

Sopra Steria

Focus

The digital backbone of space cooperation: interoperability, data, cloud, cybersecurity, AI and federated capabilities.

Susanne Wiegand

Advisory Board, Quantum Systems · Supervisory Board, CSG

Dual-use technology, European industrial base, defence resilience.

Armelle Levieux

VP Innovation & Technology, Air Liquide

Deep-tech industrialisation, cryogenics, ground infrastructure at Kourou.

Marshall Smith

CEO, Starlab · 37 years at NASA

Orbital infrastructure, commercial LEO stations, public-private cooperation.

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