IRIS2 (satellite constellation)

2023: Draft approval by the European Parliament. 6 billion euros are invested in it

In mid-February 2023, MEPs supported the deployment of satellites in orbit to provide secure communication and high-speed Internet access. The network of European communications satellites will IRIS2 be commissioned from 2024, and a large-scale deployment is scheduled for 2027th.

The draft IRIS2, according to MEPs, will provide the EU with strategic autonomy in the field of secure government communications in conditions when cybersecurity threats are becoming more and more obvious. Especially after the start of a full-scale special military operation of Russia in Ukraine at the end of February 2022.

IRIS2 will work in full force from 2027

The IRIS2 project is estimated at €6 billion. From the budget, the EU intends to invest €2.4 billion in it, and the remaining €3.6 billion will be invested by private companies and the European Space Agency. For February 2023, the EU government expects 30% of the infrastructure to be built by European startups. As a result, the European Union will receive its own safe space communication system by 2024. In addition, the satellites will provide broadband access in places in Europe and provide communication to the Arctic region.

During negotiations with EU ministers, MEPs took care of strengthening the environmental components of the IRIS2 system. As well as the stability of its work in order to avoid the spread of space debris, light pollution and ensure the compensation of the carbon footprint to reduce the impact of emissions during its operation.

IRIS2 will complement the existing Galileo navigation system and the Copernicus Earth monitoring network. According to Reuters, European satellites from the IRIS2 project are also the EU's response to the Starlink satellite project launched by Elon Musk to provide Internet services through a large network of satellites to residents of remote areas.^[1]

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