Iris² is (not) the European answer to Starlink.

€10.6 billion to create the European constellation that will provide resilient and secure internet connectivity to the Union.

BY EMILIO COZZI

The (alleged) European answer to Starlink is coming, but not before 2029.
The European Space Agency (Esa) and the European Commission have signed two contracts with the SpaceRise consortium to build the Iris² satellite constellation for internet connectivity. The Union will establish a secure, autonomous, high-quality, reliable, and efficient multi-orbital connectivity network to support governments and institutions. Its applications will range from defense to emergency response, ensuring functionality even in critical situations, such as disasters or wars. This is a vital step for European sovereignty.

Announced in October, the agreement with representatives of the SpaceRise consortium, established to develop the infrastructure, was signed on December 16. Present at the signing were Timo Pesonen, Director-General of the European Commission for Defense, Industry, and Space; Adel Al-Saleh, ceo of Belgian satellite communications company SES; Eva Berneke, ceo of Eutelsat; and Miguel Ángel Pandura Panadero, ceo of Hispasat. A second contract between Esa and the SpaceRise consortium was signed by Laurent Jaffart, Esa’s Director for Connectivity and Secure Communications.

It is immediately evident that neither Airbus nor Thales Alenia Space were present at the ceremony: “The SpaceRise consortium, composed of Ses, Eutelsat, and Hispasat, is supported by a core team of European subcontractors from the satellite ecosystem. Key partners include Thales Alenia Space, Ohb, Airbus Defence and Space, Telespazio, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Hisdesat, and Thales Six,” reads the consortium’s website.

Thus, Airbus and Thales Alenia Space remain as subcontractors. This is not surprising for two reasons: first, because the possibility of this scenario was already being discussed in July, linked to a probable merger between Airbus and Thales; second, because by the end of October, in a news release on the European Union website announcing the imminent signing of the contracts, the two companies were already mentioned as part of that same core team of subcontractors.

Iris² (acronym for “Infrastructure for resilience, interconnectivity, and security by satellite”) will be a constellation made up of 292 satellites to provide “secure, reliable, and resilient” communications to the governments of the European Union. The innovation, a first so far, is that the satellites will be positioned partly in low Earth orbit (264 in low orbit and 10 in high orbit) and partly in medium Earth orbit. The devices will be interconnected so that their arrangement does not require thousands of satellites in low orbit, as is the case with Starlink, for example. The geostationary orbit will instead be covered by the GOVSATCOM constellation, whose launch is expected to start in 2026.

The contract signed in Brussels concerns a 12-year concession. The first five years will be dedicated to building the infrastructure, with the inaugural launch set for 2029 and full operational capability expected between 2030 and 2031. The total cost is €10.6 billion, of which six billion will be covered by the European Union, €550 million by the European Space Agency, and the remaining four billion by the private consortium SpaceRise. The second contract ties SpaceRise and Esa together, with Esa responsible for overseeing the project as the validation and qualification authority during its development.

Up to this point, the information refers to publicly available details. What has not yet been disclosed is how the constellation will be divided between hardware for government use and commercial activities. The regulation establishing the Union’s secure connectivity program for the 2023-2027 period (which needs updating, as the target has been extended to 2030) clearly states that “the commercial infrastructure of the secure connectivity system includes all space and terrestrial resources other than those that are part of the government infrastructure. The commercial infrastructure does not compromise the performance or security of the government infrastructure. The commercial infrastructure and all associated risks are entirely funded by the contractors.” Therefore, the part of the constellation designated to provide connectivity to governments and institutions will be separate from the one that will enable commercial services.

Moreover, the services provided to governments, who have funded their portion of the constellation, “are provided free of charge to authorized users [by them].” However, the Commission retains the option to purchase services from the commercial infrastructure at market prices. It is worth noting that the companies leading the consortium, SES, Hispasat, and Eutelsat, are telecommunications companies, one of which, Eutelsat, already owns a satellite internet constellation, OneWeb, which, however, will not be part of the new asset. The new governmental infrastructure, on the other hand, will be publicly owned by the Union.

In an article recently published on SpaceWatch.Global, Emma Gatti sheds light on some of these points. For example, she reports that only 25% of the infrastructure’s capacity will be dedicated to government services. The other 75% will be used by companies to sell commercial services, and, as previously mentioned, in part also to governments. Gatti criticizes this choice, noting that the project is 60% publicly funded (€6 billion out of €10.6 billion), and that public funds are effectively contributing to companies whose business would likely have focused on building their own satellite network.

This operation carries an obvious business risk, which some companies have decided to limit by qualifying as contractors rather than leading the consortium.

Whatever the details of the operation, it is clear that Europe can no longer afford to wait: the service for Iris², initially expected to start in 2027, has now been pushed to 2030. In an uncertain political and energy climate, it is crucial to establish an autonomous and secure network, which in the 21st century is as vital as ensuring the supply of gas and electricity.

For this reason, it is evident that Iris² cannot and is not designed to compete directly with Starlink: it does not share the same primary goal or the critical mass. Nonetheless, as pointed out again by SpaceWatch.Global, it is important to understand the commercial strategy of SpaceRise once the constellation is operational, especially since SpaceX has already launched over 300 new-generation Starlink satellites in 2024 for the direct-to-cell service, with the goal of making it accessible to European citizens by 2025.

One key point remains: Iris² will serve to prevent Union states from relying on a private, non-EU entity for the provision of a strategic service. A private company, for economic or even geopolitical reasons, could deactivate the service at any time.

At least in this sense, yes, Iris² is the European answer to Starlink.