欧盟将IRIS²主权卫星星座服务提前至2029年并增加66颗卫星

The European Union said it’s bulking up plans for a sovereign satellite constellation and will accelerate its service launch by a year to 2029, citing a changing security environment that will require greater communication capacity.

The EU’s IRIS² project will require an additional 66 satellites, taking the total constellation to 348, the European Space Agency said in a statement on Friday. The faster deployment and additional satellites will require more funds, which will be allocated in the bloc’s next six-year budget and require additional investments from member states, the agency said, without disclosing how much more the updated plans would cost.

IRIS², which is targeting a budget of more than €15.6 billion ($18 billion), is part of a broader push in Europe to build up strategic infrastructure and decrease dependence on the US. The idea is to create a unified EU service, rather than rely on foreign providers or piecemeal services from different states.

The satellite plan aims to cover both “low” and “medium” Earth orbits — which can be used for defense, security and emergency services communications as well as commercial services. The constellation will also cover even lower orbits, designed to connect mobile phones, trackers and sensors.

European satellite companies are helping the EU build the satellite network, including Eutelsat Communications SACA, SES SA and Hispasat SA. The constellation is designed to provide sovereign communication services to member states, but will also allow the participating companies to offer commercial communication services.

The EU’s space agency is also relying on member states to fund the project. Poland and Hungary have already committed €656 million and €500 million respectively, while Spain has announced plans to invest as much as €2 billion.

Alongside the EU’s announcement:

Indra Sistemas SA-owned Hispasat said it won a role as the primary contractor on a €1.6 billion project to supply ground stations to IRIS². SES said it expects to spend as much as €1.35 billion providing mid-Earth orbit satellites to the constellation, expected to start service in 2030, in a separate statement. Eutelsat, which is contributing services from its lower-Earth orbit satellites, also said it expects to invest €2.23 billion in the shared infrastructure of IRIS² and a further €1.16 billion in the commercial infrastructure between 2027 and 2034.

Eutelsat has called for European unity amid the threat of “one player taking it all,” posed by American competitors such as SpaceX’s Starlink.

The European Commission said it will look for a provider that can add direct-to-device capabilities to the IRIS² constellation, providing mobile service and competing more directly with similar offerings from Starlink. The bloc’s executive body put forward a proposal to reserve one third of airwaves suitable for direct-to-device satellite communication for a sovereign communication service provider and one third for a commercial service run by a European company.