The UK Space Agency has awarded £428,000 to CGI IT UK Ltd for a pilot that will fit a ScotRail train on the West Highland Line with satellite communications equipment, as part of a wider £13 million government investment in 16 satellite communications projects delivered through the European Space Agency’s Advanced Research in Telecommunication Systems (ARTES) programme.
The announcement was made on 18 August 2026 by the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, the UK Space Agency and Baroness Lloyd of Effra CBE.
The West Highland Line pilot
The Scottish project is titled Satellites for Digitalisation of Railways (SODOR) CCN 4 – West Highland Line Pilot. According to the UK Space Agency, it “will fit a ScotRail train on the West Highland Line with satellite communications equipment to provide reliable broadband in one of the UK’s most remote rail corridors. It will demonstrate how satellite technology can fill connectivity gaps where mobile and broadband networks simply don’t reach.”
The release states the trial “will support the government’s wider work to introduce satellite connectivity on all mainland trains”.
Project lead CGI IT UK Ltd is based in Leatherhead.
Wider SODOR consortium
The current UK Space Agency release names only CGI as the project lead. The ESA Space Solutions project page for SODOR lists a broader delivery consortium behind the demonstration activity: CGI as prime, with IT partners Icomera, Isotropic and 5G3i, alongside Network Rail, and rail operators ScotRail, Northern and LNER.
ESA describes the objective of SODOR as delivering “a demonstration of a hybrid satellite communications and terrestrial network for use on trains”, exploring “how new constellations of communication satellites can seamlessly fill gaps in terrestrial coverage and provide additional capacity to improve safety and provide travellers with better connectivity”. The ESA page was last updated on 28 November 2022 and predates the £428,000 CCN 4 top-up announced this week.
Minister quote
Space Minister Liz Lloyd:
“This investment shows the true breadth of UK space innovation and how innovations in the UK’s satellite sector can improve lives, with better connectivity delivering internet access for more train journeys, and smarter farming. through more reliable connections through to support for our farming communities.
“By backing brilliant British companies, we are not only furthering our status as one of the world’s leading space powers, but creating high-quality jobs and new opportunities across the UK.”
The wider £13 million round
The 16 projects are backed by £13 million in UK Government funding and delivered through ESA’s ARTES programme. Alongside SODOR, they cover optical and quantum ground station networks, deep space and lunar communications, satellite propulsion, low-cost farm sensors and 5G/6G non-terrestrial network software.
The largest single award in the round is £2,100,000 to Exobotics Ltd (London) for STARS, described by the UK Space Agency as delivering “the first satellites in a planned network designed to relay data between satellites and the ground much more quickly”. Other awards include £1,845,000 to Archangel Lightworks (Oxford) for the Optimus laser communications system, £1,710,000 to Orbital Astronautics (Goring-On-Thames) for QUAKES, and £1,500,000 to Airbus Defence and Space UK (Portsmouth) for the Theia software-defined radio payload processor.
