IRIS²

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IRIS²
Country/ies of origin European Union
Operator(s) EUSPA, ESA
Type broadband satellite internet constellation
StatusUnder development
CoverageGlobal
Constellation size
Nominal satellitesA few hundred, up to 290 [1] LEO and MEO satellites
Current usable satellitesNone
First launch2025 (expected)
Other details
Cost€10.5 billion
Website defence-industry-space.ec.europa.eu/eu-space-policy/iris2_en (EU Defence Industry and Space)

IRIS² (Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite) is a planned multi-orbit satellite internet constellation to be deployed by the European Union by 2027. [2] [3] [4] [5] Initial government services are expected to start in 2030. [6] IRIS² will consist of 264 satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO), at an altitude of 1,200 km, and 18 satellites in medium Earth orbit (MEO), at 8,000 km. [7]

Contents

It is intended to provide secure communications, location tracking and security surveillance services to governmental agencies [8] directly comparable to the US SpaceX Starshield project. [9] The system aims to also provide broadband for private companies and citizens. [1] At contract signing in December 2024, the estimated cost was €10.5 billion, of which €6.5 was public funds. [10]

IRIS² is part of the EU's overall space strategy, including the EU Space Strategy for Security and Defence. [11] The European Space Agency (ESA) is responsible for development and deployment of the system and the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) is responsible for the governmental service provision. [12]

History

The project was announced by the Council of the EU in November 2022. [2] A single multi-national industrial consortium, including Airbus Defence and Space, Thales Alenia Space and Arianespace among others, was tasked to develop it. [13] [14] The constellation is expected to be launched by European rockets such as Ariane 6. The latter's first launch, initially scheduled for the end of the year 2022, was delayed several times, [15] [16] [17] and finally took place on 9 July 2024. [18] [19] [20] [21]

The contract was originally scheduled to be awarded by the end of March but the European Commission apparently put it on hold. At a meeting of an EU parliamentary committee on April 9 2024, EU commissioner for the internal market, Thierry Breton, stated the commission was still finalizing the contract without providing an estimate regarding when it would be completed. [14]

In October 2024, the European Commission announced that the concession contract to develop, deploy and operate IRIS² had been awarded to SpaceRISE, a consortium of three European satellite operators— SES, Eutelsat and Hispasat— which would rely on a core team of 8 European space and telecommunications companies as subcontractors; they are Thales Alenia Space, OHB, Airbus Defence and Space, Telespazio, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Hisdesat and Thales SIX. The European Commission stated that IRIS² would be funded by the EU, the European Space Agency and private financing, and that the satellite constellation would comprise 290 satellites in multiple orbits, with the governmental services expected to start operating in 2030. [22] [23] The contract with SpaceRISE was signed in Brussels on December 16, 2024. [24] [10]

After the February 2025 Trump–Zelenskyy meeting and subsequent suspension of all US military aid to Ukraine, the question arose how much longer Starlink services with its 7000 satellites would be available to direct Ukrainian drones. However, IRIS² would not be in orbit until 2030 and the current European service Eutelsat OneWeb is much more expensive to use. [25]

In March 2025, Norway requested to join IRIS² and the negotiations with the EU started on March 13. [26]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Commission takes next step to deploy the IRIS² secure satellite system". 16 December 2024. Retrieved 3 February 2025.
  2. 1 2 "Council and European Parliament agree on boosting secure communications with a new satellite system". www.consilium.europa.eu. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  3. ↑ "Welcome to IRIS², Europe's new Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnection & Security by Satellites". European Commission - European Commission. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  4. ↑ "OBSERVER: Copernicus gets sibling— IRIS², the new EU Secure Communication Constellation". www.copernicus.eu. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  5. ↑ "Europe wants its own ultra-secure satellite constellation". Le Monde.fr. 25 December 2022. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  6. ↑ "IRIS² - the European Commission awards the concession contract to SpaceRISE consortium - European Commission". defence-industry-space.ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 3 March 2025.
  7. ↑ Caliman, Lucille (11 March 2025). "IRIS2: everything you need to know about this new European constellation". Polytechnique Insights. Retrieved 17 March 2025.
  8. ↑ "IRIS² | Secure Connectivity - European Commission". defence-industry-space.ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
  9. ↑ "Relax Elon — the EU isn't an immediate threat to Starlink". POLITICO. 16 December 2024. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
  10. 1 2 "SpaceRISE". www.spacerise.eu.
  11. ↑ "EU Space Strategy for Security and Defence | EEAS". www.eeas.europa.eu. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
  12. ↑ "IRIS² | Secure Connectivity - European Commission". defence-industry-space.ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 17 March 2025.
  13. ↑ Filloux, Frédéric (21 October 2023). "Europe weeks away from finalizing sovereign broadband proposal". L'Express (in French). Retrieved 2 March 2024.
  14. 1 2 "EU to delay space law, constellation contract". 15 April 2024.
  15. ↑ "Ariane-6 approche de son premier lancement". 7 March 2024.
  16. ↑ "Europe's Ariane-6 rocket maiden flight expected by summer, space agency boss says". 12 January 2024.
  17. ↑ "1st launch of Europe's Ariane 6 rocket finally has June 2024 launch target". 3 December 2023.
  18. ↑ Amos, Jonathan (10 July 2024). "Europe's Ariane-6 rocket blasts off on maiden flight". BBC. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  19. ↑ Stephen Clark (10 July 2024). "Europe's first Ariane 6 flight achieved most of its goals, but ended prematurely". Ars Technica. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  20. ↑ Andrew Parsonson (10 July 2024). "Ariane 6 Anomaly Will Have "No Consequence" On Upcoming Missions". European Spaceflight. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  21. ↑ Adrian Beil (10 July 2024). "Ariane 6 successfully launches on maiden flight from French Guiana". NASASpaceflight. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  22. ↑ IRIS² - the European Commission awards the concession contract to SpaceRISE consortium European Commission. 31 October 2024. Accessed 1 November 2024
  23. ↑ SpaceRISE wins IRIS² contract Advanced Television. 1 November 2024. Accessed 1 November 2024
  24. ↑ "Commission takes next step to deploy the IRIS² secure satellite system". European Commission - European Commission. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
  25. ↑ Aretz, Eckart. "Ukraine - aufgeschmissen ohne Starlink?" (in German). Retrieved 6 March 2025.
  26. ↑ "Norway to be 'fully integrated' member of EU's secure communications, industry minister says". Euractiv. 14 March 2025.


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