IRIS²: Europe's Answer to Starlink Enters Full-Scale Build-Out
Brussels — The European Union has moved its flagship satellite programme IRIS² from planning to full-scale deployment, weeks after signing an implementation agreement that expands the constellation to 348 satellites and pushes its budget to €15.6 billion.
The multi-orbit constellation — Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite — is the EU's third flagship space programme after Galileo and Copernicus. It is intended to end Europe's dependence on non-European operators such as SpaceX's Starlink and Amazon's Project Kuiper for strategic and governmental communications.
Bigger, faster, more expensive
The implementation agreement, concluded in August 2026 between the European Commission, ESA and the SpaceRISE consortium after seven months of negotiations, adds 66 satellites in higher low Earth orbit to the original 290-satellite design. The expanded constellation will comprise 330 LEO satellites and 18 in medium Earth orbit, with the first launches brought forward to 2029. Governmental services are expected to become operational around 2030.
The revised €15.6 billion price tag is funded through a combination of the EU budget for 2028–2034, contributions from ESA, member states and private financing. Defence and security requirements are the primary driver of the expansion, though the Commission also cites emergency response, critical infrastructure protection and broadband coverage for connectivity dead zones across Europe and Africa.
Industry mobilised
Manufacturing contracts are already in place. In September 2026, Eutelsat — which leads the LEO segment — awarded contracts to Belgian startup Aerospacelab for 264 satellite platforms and to Airbus Defence and Space for the remaining 66. Thales Alenia Space will deliver the communication payloads for all 330 LEO satellites.
The SpaceRISE consortium of SES, Eutelsat and Hisdesat holds the 12-year concession to build and operate the system, with ESA providing technical oversight.
Security by design
IRIS² differentiates itself from commercial broadband constellations through a security-first architecture. The system integrates quantum cryptography via the European Quantum Communication Infrastructure (EuroQCI) and follows a secure-by-design approach across space and ground segments.
Services target three user groups: EU institutions and member-state governments (encrypted communications for ministries and embassies), commercial customers (connectivity for transport, energy, banking and offshore industries), and defence and security forces.
International dimension
Poland formalised a €656.3 million contribution supporting 12 satellites and a ground station in Warsaw. In September 2026, the European Commission and South Korea signed an agreement to study Seoul's potential integration into the constellation — a first signal that IRIS² may not remain a purely European asset.
For enterprises, the rollout means a new sovereign connectivity option from the end of the decade: EU-accredited, encrypted satellite links as an alternative to US-owned infrastructure, with early services expected to follow shortly after the 2029 first launches.
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