The European Space Agency (ESA) has tapped OVHcloud and CGI for a 30-month contract to build the computing infrastructure required to store and process Europe’s Earth observation satellite data, Reuters reported on September 28. The project, dubbed Digital EO, is designed for massive scale; the companies stated the system aims to manage over 500 petabytes of data by 2035.
The 500-Petabyte Ambition of Digital EO
The division of labor is clear. OVHcloud, the largest cloud provider in Europe, will provide the network capacity, storage, and computing. CGI will act as the integrator and architect. The infrastructure will be deployed across Germany, France, and Italy, with support operations centered in Poland.
Securing Strategic Sovereignty
This award follows a €180 million cloud tender in April that exclusively involved four European firms, signaling a shift in how the European Commission prioritizes strategic workloads. For OVHcloud CEO Octave Klaba, the move is about autonomy. “Europe absolutely must have control over the infrastructure that runs its most strategic programmes,” Klaba said in a statement.
The resulting system will integrate with European and national facilities. This creates a pooled environment of AI tools, computing power, and storage accessible to companies, public bodies, and researchers.
A Multi-Million Euro Push for Space Data
The companies described the contract’s value as “multi-million” euros, though ESA has not disclosed a specific figure. Digital EO is intended to support the DestinE digital twin of Earth and the European Union’s Copernicus Earth observation initiative.
It is not the only project in the pipeline. ESA is simultaneously developing a security-focused Earth observation architecture for EU governments. Parallel study contracts for that effort were awarded to teams led by Italy’s Leonardo and Finland’s ICEYE.