The European Union has officially launched the Iris² project - a constellation of secure communications satellites - by signing a twelve-year concession with the SpaceRISE consortium. The Iris² budget is estimated at 10.6 billion euros for twelve years.
Transmits UNN with reference to Euractiv and Sud Ouest.
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The European project to create a constellation of secure communications satellites, Iris² (Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security via Satellites), has officially started. On Monday, the European Union signed a twelve-year concession with the SpaceRISE consortium, led by France's Eutelsat, Spain's Hispasat, and Luxembourg's SES.
The EU's flagship space project, the successor to the Galileo (satellite positioning) and Copernicus (climate monitoring) programs, Iris² envisages the creation of a network of 290 multi-orbiting satellites that will provide communication services until 2030.
The European constellation of satellites will create secure communications in key areas such as defense, the European diplomatic network, crisis management and surveillance, and commercial Internet access in the event of threats of “space-based Internet warfare.
The Iris² budget is estimated at 10.6 billion euros for twelve years: 6 billion from the European Union, 4.1 billion from private investment and 0.55 billion from the European Space Agency (ESA). Iris² control centers will be installed in three European countries: Luxembourg, Toulouse in southwestern France and Fucino in central Italy.
In the context of Iris², the European Union mentions negotiations with the UK, Norway, Australia, Asian countries such as Japan and South Korea, and African countries.
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Europe is trying to resist Elon Musk's American SpaceX, which has “gained a head start” with Starlink and become one of the world's major satellite Internet providers. The market for high-speed spatial connectivity, especially useful for serving isolated regions where there is no optical fiber, has become ultra-competitive, Sud Ouest writes .