IRIS²

The project was announced by the Council of the EU in November 2022. A single multi-national industrial consortium, including Airbus Defence and Space, Thales Alenia Space and Arianespace among others, was tasked to develop it.{{Cite web |last=Filloux |first=Frédéric |date=2023-10-21 |title=Europe weeks away from finalizing sovereign broadband proposal |url=https://www.lexpress.fr/economie/high-tech/iris-petits-arrangements-entre-geants-du-spatial-europeen-W4J23ERTERFODFFSYYRHEAEDXE/ |access-date=2024-03-02 |website=L'Express |language=fr}}{{cite web |title=EU to delay space law, constellation contract |url=https://spacenews.com/eu-to-delay-space-law-constellation-contract/ |date=15 April 2024}} The constellation is expected to be launched by European rockets such as Ariane 6. The latter's first launch, initially scheduled for the end of the year 2022, was delayed several times,{{cite web |title=Ariane-6 approche de son premier lancement |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/economie/article/2024/03/07/ariane-6-approche-de-son-premier-lancement_6220691_3234.html |date=7 March 2024}}{{cite web |title=Europe’s Ariane-6 rocket maiden flight expected by summer, space agency boss says |url=https://www.euractiv.com/section/global-europe/news/europes-ariane-6-rocket-maiden-flight-expected-by-summer-space-agency-boss-says/ |date=12 January 2024}}{{cite web |title=1st launch of Europe's Ariane 6 rocket finally has June 2024 launch target |url=https://www.space.com/1st-ariane-6-rocket-launch-june-2024-target |date=3 December 2023}} and finally took place on 9 July 2024.{{Cite news |last=Amos |first=Jonathan |date=2024-07-10 |title=Europe's Ariane-6 rocket blasts off on maiden flight |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c19km33k1mpo |access-date=2024-07-10 |work=BBC |language=en-GB}}{{cite news |author=Stephen Clark |date=2024-07-10 |title=Europe’s first Ariane 6 flight achieved most of its goals, but ended prematurely |url=https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/07/europes-first-ariane-6-flight-achieved-most-of-its-goals-but-ended-prematurely/ |access-date=2024-07-11 |work=Ars Technica}}{{cite news |author=Andrew Parsonson |date=2024-07-10 |title=Ariane 6 Anomaly Will Have "No Consequence" On Upcoming Missions |url=https://europeanspaceflight.com/ariane-6-anomaly-will-have-no-consequence-on-upcoming-missions/ |access-date=2024-07-11 |work=European Spaceflight}}{{cite news |author=Adrian Beil |date=2024-07-10 |title=Ariane 6 successfully launches on maiden flight from French Guiana |url=https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2024/07/ariane-6-maiden-launch/ |access-date=2024-07-11 |work=NASASpaceflight}}

The contract was originally scheduled to be awarded by the end of March but the European Commission apparently put it on hold. At a meeting of an EU parliamentary committee on April 9 2024, EU commissioner for the internal market, Thierry Breton, stated the commission was still finalizing the contract without providing an estimate regarding when it would be completed.

In October 2024, the European Commission announced that the concession contract to develop, deploy and operate IRIS² had been awarded to SpaceRISE, a consortium of three European satellite operators— SES, Eutelsat and Hispasat— which would rely on a core team of 8 European space and telecommunications companies as subcontractors; they are Thales Alenia Space, OHB, Airbus Defence and Space, Telespazio, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Hisdesat and Thales SIX. The European Commission stated that IRIS² would be funded by the EU, the European Space Agency and private financing, and that the satellite constellation would comprise 290 satellites in multiple orbits, with the governmental services expected to start operating in 2030.[https://defence-industry-space.ec.europa.eu/iris2-european-commission-awards-concession-contract-spacerise-consortium-2024-10-31_en IRIS² – the European Commission awards the concession contract to SpaceRISE consortium] European Commission. 31 October 2024. Accessed 1 November 2024[https://advanced-television.com/2024/11/01/spacerise-wins-iris2-contract/ SpaceRISE wins IRIS² contract] Advanced Television. 1 November 2024. Accessed 1 November 2024 The contract with SpaceRISE was signed in Brussels on December 16, 2024.{{Cite web |title=Commission takes next step to deploy the IRIS² secure satellite system |url=https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_24_6439 |access-date=2024-12-25 |website=European Commission – European Commission}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.spacerise.eu/article/iris-lifts-off-as-european-commission-and-spacerise|title=SpaceRISE|website=www.spacerise.eu}}

After the February 2025 Trump–Zelenskyy meeting and subsequent suspension of all US military aid to Ukraine, the question arose how much longer Starlink services with its 7000 satellites would be available to Ukraine. However, IRIS² would not be in orbit until 2030 and the current European service Eutelsat OneWeb is much more expensive to use.{{Cite news |last=Aretz |first=Eckart |title=Ukraine – aufgeschmissen ohne Starlink? |url=https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/europa/ukraine-starlink-102.html |access-date=2025-03-06 |language=de}} In April 2025, it was revealed that Germany has been financing Ukraine’s use of Eutelsat satellite internet services for about a year as an alternative to Starlink.{{Cite news |date=2025-04-04 |title=Exclusive: Germany funds Eutelsat internet in Ukraine as Musk tensions rise |url=https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/germany-funds-eutelsat-internet-ukraine-musk-tensions-rise-2025-04-04/ |access-date=2025-04-10 |work=Reuters}}

In March 2025, Norway requested to join IRIS² and the negotiations with the EU started on March 13.{{Cite news |date=2025-03-14 |title=Norway to be ‘fully integrated’ member of EU’s secure communications, industry minister says |url=https://www.euractiv.com/section/tech/interview/norway-to-be-fully-integrated-member-of-eus-secure-communications-industry-minister-says/ |work=Euractiv}} Later in March, the Swiss satellite communication company WISeSat.Space announces the creation of a new subsidiary in Spain in order to align with the IRIS² program.{{Cite news |date=2025-03-31 |title=WISeSat.Space Creates WISeSat España SA Subsidiary to Lead European Space Projects from Andalusia and Build a 100% “Made in Europe” Solution Aligned With the IRIS² Strategy |url=https://www.stocktitan.net/news/WKEY/wi-se-sat-space-creates-wi-se-sat-espana-sa-subsidiary-to-lead-zqnnzpl9o2r9.html}}

{{Portal|European Union}}

• List of European Space Agency programmes and missions
• Eutelsat OneWeb, the current European satellite internet service
• Galileo (satellite navigation), the EU's satellite navigation constellation
• Satellite internet constellation
• SpaceX Starshield
• Satellite internet

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{{Satellite constellations}}

Category:Communications satellite constellations

Category:European Union and science and technology

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