IRIS2, the European satellite communications program, is finally getting underway. The answer to Elon Musk’s Starlink and Jeff Bezos’ Kuiper is the SpaceRISE consortium. Two years after the launch of the project, the European Commission awarded the contract to build its mega satellite constellation to a consortium of satellite fleet operators: Eutelsat (France), SES (Luxembourg) and Hispasat (Spain). The trio will work with subcontractors and satellite builders Thales Alenia Space and Airbus Defense and Space as well as European telecommunications groups including Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Hisdesat and Thales Six. The contracts are expected to be signed at the end of the year.
The objective is to bring together 290 satellites and the associated ground infrastructure. The independent network is expected to be operational by 2030. Governments will be the first users, but commercial applications are also part of the program.
IRIS2, launched in November 2022 by former European Commissioner Thierry Breton, is expensive. Initially estimated at 6 billion euros, experts now estimate that it is a 12 billion euro project. Robert Habeck, Germany’s vice chancellor, sent a letter to Brussels in March denouncing the increase as “exorbitant.” It did not help that German companies were not heavily involved in the project. Yet the war in Ukraine convinced European leaders that they needed their own secure satellite Internet network, and they found a compromise. What if their ground system suddenly failed? What would happen in the event of a cyber attack? IRIS2 and its 290 satellites are much smaller than the 6,000 active Starlink satellites, but the constellation is a powerful communications tool. It reaffirms the independence of the old continent, like Galileo, the global satellite navigation system which is the European response to American GPS.
The European Commission has carefully avoided figures. It was not specified what the final cost will be. SpaceRISE is a public-private partnership which will be supported by funding from the EU and the European Space Agency. They had initially planned a budget of more than 3 billion euros. The public contribution will likely exceed this amount. The rest will be covered by the private sector, including the three members of the consortium.