Space industry expert
Relians, Space industry expert
Relians offers a unique expertise reflecting a deep understanding of the institutional, regulatory, economic, technological, and strategic dimensions of the space sector.
Relians provides support across the full spectrum of the space sector
In the space domain, Relians has recognized experience in Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), with a particular focus on Galileo and its secure applications.
This expertise notably encompasses the field of Timing, an essential component for cryptology and secure data transmissions, including in the banking sector.
GNSS signals
Relians offers unique technical expertise in Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals, combined with a deep understanding of the regulatory and strategic challenges of the space sector.
Public Regulated Service (PRS) expert
Relians’s Public Regulated Service (PRS) expertise was developed within the European security expert groups, more specifically alongside the European Commission and specialists from the space agencies of the European Union’s Member States.
Within this framework, a Relians expert chaired for five years the work of the PRS Working Group — the most secure service of the Galileo system — primarily used by the military, law enforcement, and intelligence services.
In France, this expertise is administered by a PRS Authority Responsible (Autorité PRS Responsable, APR), known at the European level as a Competent PRS Authority (CPA). This body issues PRS accreditations under the supervision of the General Secretariat for National Defense and Security (SGDSN), which hosts it. Such accreditation may enable an organization (public authority, company, research laboratory, or industrial operator) to:
- Access the encrypted PRS signals;
- Hold, handle, or develop equipment using these secure signals;
- and, in certain cases,
Manufacture or export PRS receivers.
Signal Task Forces (STF) expert
Relians’s Signal Task Force (STF) expertise was developed when one of its experts chaired the European Signal Task Force (STF), a body composed of Europe’s leading specialists responsible for defining the signals of the Galileo system. These experts came from the European Space Agency (ESA) and the national space agencies of the Member States, including the French National Centre for Space Studies (CNES).
This contribution notably enabled the interoperability of Galileo and GPS signals. These signals serve multiple purposes and cover various applications, including security and defense (PRS), mass-market use (OS – Open Service on the L1 frequency band), and civil aviation (E5a, E5b, and E1). The United States subsequently upgraded its signal for the third generation of its constellation, known as GPS III, to ensure full compatibility with Galileo’s Open Service (OS).
This expertise also proved instrumental when Relians’s expert co-chaired the delegation of the European Union in negotiations with the U.S. authorities (Department of State), supported by sectoral administrations such as the Department of Defense (DoD), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and NASA. These talks led to the conclusion of a strategic “European Union–United States” agreement, opening to Europe a market valued at over €200 billion over twenty years.
Timing
Relians offers an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the issues related to the use of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals for Timing (time reference) and the temporal synchronization of critical systems.
Time reference
A large number of infrastructures rely on GNSS signals for Timing (time reference). The most critical infrastructures may also use atomic clocks.
GNSS signals — particularly those from Galileo — are essential not only for geolocation but also for providing an extremely accurate time reference. In Europe, Galileo’s time references are based on a network of atomic clocks, with signal processing performed through Kalman filtering.
This synchronization is vital for the operation of:
- telecommunications networks (5G, data centers, secure and military data links, etc.);
- financial and banking systems (transaction timestamping and data encryption);
- energy and power networks; and
- certain security and defense infrastructures.
Critical infrastructure
Relians’s expertise in the resilience of critical infrastructures was developed within the framework of the European Union.
On the one hand, certain Member States conducted confidential studies on this type of infrastructure and its resilience to interference and spoofing, the results of which were partially shared.
A Relians expert also worked on this subject with the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Home Affairs (DG HOME).
The sensitivity of these infrastructures to Timing and to various disruption scenarios may require the deployment of redundancies, such as atomic clocks, in order to ensure secure data transmissions (cryptology) or specific synchronizations (e.g., power grids).
Furthermore, for this type of infrastructure, one of the most critical parameters is the integrity of GNSS signals.
Among the various transport applications, in terms of signal integrity, the railway sector is the most demanding, followed by aviation (Safety).
Relians supports you in space-related M&A operations
Institutional expertise
Beyond Galileo, Relians possesses an in-depth understanding of the decision-making processes and institutional dynamics within the European Commission and the European Space Agency (ESA).
Its institutional network also extends to the French National Centre for Space Studies (CNES) and the Norwegian Space Agency, strengthening its ability to operate in complex regulatory and technical environments where innovation, security, and sovereignty intersect.
For more than twenty years, Relians has built its public affairs and strategic lobbying practice on a deep knowledge of these institutional decision-making circuits – particularly in the space sector. This understanding of both European and French institutional mechanisms enables Relians to identify key decision-makers, who can sometimes act as constraining or even blocking actors when systems are dual in nature (civil and military).
All Relians consultants possess recognized experience and a proven command of the rules and practices specific to each institution.
This dual expertise – institutional and operational – allows the firm to provide its clients with strategic, pragmatic, and directly actionable advice.
Industrial expertise
Dual-use activities
Relians also possesses an in-depth understanding of the major industrial players as well as critical subcontractors within the supply chain. Many subcontracting companies operate in dual-use sectors (civil and military), and the security constraints described in Relians’s Defense activity equally apply here: namely, the State’s right to intervene in negotiations through the French foreign investment screening mechanism (Investissements Étrangers en France – IEF) or other regulatory frameworks such as the protection regimes for Vital Importance Activities (Sécurité des Activités d’Importance Vitale – SAIV), Operators of Vital Importance (Opérateurs d’Importance Vitale – OIV), Points of Vital Importance (Points d’Importance Vitale – PIV), the Protection of the Nation’s Scientific and Technical Potential (Protection du Potentiel Scientifique et Technique – PPST), and the Protection of National Defense Secrets (Protection du Secret de la Défense Nationale – PSDN).
Security-focused M&A advisory
Drawing on this experience, Relians advises companies and investors in the acquisition or divestiture of businesses in the sector, incorporating both the anticipation of security and regulatory requirements and the strategic valuation of sensitive assets (patents and technologies).
By combining technical expertise, strategic vision, and strong institutional grounding within Europe, Relians provides unique support for European and international projects in the space and critical technologies domains.
Relians, an expert in the decision-making processes of the space sector
Beyond public decision-making networks, essential but not sufficient, Relians builds its added value on sector-specific and technological expertise combined with a nuanced understanding of institutional, particularly security-related, issues. This unique combination makes the firm a leading player in mergers and acquisitions as well as in strategic partnerships involving sensitive assets within the space ecosystem.
