In the race for the internet of space against Elon Musk, the European Union officially launched its Iris² secure communications satellite constellation project on Monday, by signing a twelve-year concession with the SpaceRISE consortium.
The European Union’s flagship space project after the Galileo (satellite positioning) and Copernicus (climate monitoring) programs, Iris² plans a network of 290 multi-orbital satellites, offering connection services by 2030.
This European constellation of satellites would allow secure communications in key areas such as defense, the European diplomatic network, crisis management and surveillance, but also commercial access to the internet, while the space internet war rages.
Europe is trying to position itself against Elon Musk’s American Space
An ultra-competitive market
The market for high-speed spatial connectivity, particularly useful for serving isolated regions lacking optical fiber, has become ultra-competitive.
At the start of 2024, Starlink claimed to have already put more than 6,000 satellites into orbit and claimed 2.6 million customers, with the objective of deploying nearly 30,000 satellites in total.
L’UE awarded the management of Iris² to the consortium SpaceRISEled by the French Eutelsat, the Spanish Hispasat and the Luxembourgish SES, for a twelve-year concession, in a public-private partnership. Other partners include Thales, OHB, Airbus Defense and Space, Telespazio, Deutsche Telekom, Orange and Hisdesat.
The budget ofIris² is estimated at 10.6 billion euros over twelve years: 6 billion from the European Union, 4.1 billion from private investments and 0.55 billion from the European Space Agency (ESA).
“Increase Europe’s strategic autonomy”
Iris² control centers will be installed in three European countries: Luxembourg, Toulouse in the southwest of France and Fucino in central Italy.
“This cutting-edge constellation will protect our critical infrastructure, connect our most remote areas and increase Europe’s strategic autonomy,” assured Henna Virkkunen, Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for technological sovereignty. (read box). On the commercial prospects of Iris², the European Union mentions discussions with the United Kingdom, Norway, Australia, Asian countries such as Japan and South Korea and African countries.
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