IRIS²: the architecture and industrial set-up of the EU's sovereign constellation

A legal basis adopted in 2023

The Union Secure Connectivity Programme, known as IRIS² (Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite), was established by Regulation (EU) 2023/588 for the period 2023-2027. Its aim is to give the Union a satellite telecommunications infrastructure of its own, intended primarily for governmental uses – surveillance, crisis management, protection of critical infrastructure, diplomatic and defence communications – while opening part of the capacity to commercial services.

A multi-orbit constellation

According to the European Commission, IRIS² will consist of around 290 satellites spread across two types of orbit:

• low Earth orbit (LEO), for low latency;
• medium Earth orbit (MEO), for wide coverage with a limited number of satellites.

The press release issued by Eutelsat at the signing gives a split of around 264 satellites in LEO and 18 in MEO. The stated objective is to deliver governmental and commercial services by 2030.

A public-private concession model

On 16 December 2024 the Commission signed a 12-year concession contract with the SpaceRISE consortium, made up of the operators SES, Eutelsat and Hispasat. The consortium relies on a group of industrial subcontractors including Thales Alenia Space, OHB, Airbus Defence and Space, Telespazio, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Hisdesat and Thales SIX.

The total cost of the programme is estimated at around €10.6 billion, according to Eutelsat. Public funding – from the European Union, Member States and ESA – covers roughly 60%, with the remainder provided by the consortium members. Eutelsat states that its own contribution is around €2 billion, allocated to later phases of the programme.

This set-up differs from that of Galileo, which is entirely public: the Union retains ownership of the governmental infrastructure while entrusting part of the investment, operation and commercialisation to the private sector.

ESA's role

A contribution agreement signed on 21 September 2023 between the Commission and ESA gives the agency the role of qualification and validation authority for the governmental infrastructure. It checks that industry delivers in line with EU requirements and supports the Commission in defining future generations. ESA has been delegated €380 million for this purpose, over a 12-year period aligned with the concession.

Industrial stakes

For the European industry, IRIS² represents a significant market across several segments:

• serial satellite manufacturing for the LEO layer, an industrial exercise quite different from building large geostationary satellites one at a time;
• secure payloads and encryption, including the quantum cryptography envisaged by the programme;
• ground segments and integration with terrestrial networks;
• launches, with the Union favouring European launchers for its infrastructure.

A response to a sovereignty challenge

The creation of IRIS² responds to the growing dependence of European public authorities on satellite connectivity services supplied by non-European players. By acquiring its own infrastructure, the Union aims to guarantee the continuity of sensitive communications, including in crisis situations, and to strengthen the position of its operators against the large commercial constellations already in service. The programme also seeks to give European manufacturers a reference customer for technologies that they can later offer on export markets.

Key takeaways

IRIS² is the Union's third major space infrastructure programme after Galileo and Copernicus, and the first built on a public-private concession. The deployment timeline towards 2030 and industry's ability to produce satellites in series will be the main indicators to watch.