MACOM’s European Semiconductor Center (MESC) has landed a multi-year contract to lead the MAGENTA program, a France 2030-funded project aimed at pushing Ka-band MMIC technology to its limits.
The money comes from Banque Publique d’Investissement (BPI), the French government’s investment arm, as part of the €54 billion France 2030 plan. That plan is a sweeping effort to decarbonize the economy and boost strategic sectors like digital tech and aerospace. For MESC, the goal is clear: develop next-gen gallium nitride (GaN) front-end products that redefine power-added efficiency for high-frequency systems.
The Efficiency Obsession
Why does power-added efficiency matter? In Ka-band—roughly 26 to 40 GHz—every decibel of wasted power is heat you have to manage, and in space or dense 5G deployments, heat is the enemy. MAGENTA’s amplifiers aim to push that boundary, targeting 5G-FR2 bands and low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite links. These are the systems that will beam data to your phone from orbit or handle the backhaul for tomorrow’s dense urban networks.
MESC already has GaN technology in its arsenal. Now it will lead manufacturing for the MMICs designed by the program’s partners. That’s a big deal for Europe, which has been scrambling to build sovereign chip supply chains since the global shortage crisis.
A Stronger Footing in Europe
MACOM CEO Stephen G. Daly frames this as a growth play: “This noteworthy award will make MESC a stronger partner and supplier to the European Telecommunications and Space markets.” The company is already investing heavily, with a $345 million plan to expand GaN and GaAs production and a separate US CHIPS Act project for GaN-on-SiC. France is clearly getting a piece of that action.
The MAGENTA program isn’t just a contract—it’s a signal. As the EU pushes for strategic autonomy in semiconductors, projects like this anchor critical manufacturing on European soil. For MACOM, it’s a chance to lock in long-term relationships with telecom and space customers. For the rest of us, it means the chips powering your next satellite internet dish or 5G tower might just be designed and built in France.
