The European Commission (EC) has published its tender specifications for its IRIS² global satellite project. The EC wants the contract to be firmly in place within one year. The concept is for an EU-backed fully independent constellation of satellites.

The IRIS² project is for a multi-orbit satellite network and managed as a concession by a private sector contractor which will almost certainly be a consortium.

The total cost has been stated as €6 billion spread over 12 years of operations. Some cash (likely €640 million) will come from ESA’s 22-member governments and these funds spread over a three-year period. The EC says that it has earmarked €380 million for development work and almost €1 billion for deployment and exploitation.

This is very much a ‘fast track’ project. The EC has set firm dates, such as:

· Parties interested in fulfilling the tender must respond by April 26th
· The evaluation by the EC takes place April 27th – May 17th
· Invitations to successful candidates, May 25th
· Deadline for proposal responses, July 31st
· Further evaluation, August 1st – October 13th
· Best offer from candidate suppliers, October 30th – December 13th
· Further evaluation, December 14th – January 25th 2024
· Award decision, January 26th 2024
· Contracts signed, February 9th 2024

Launchers must be European, says the document, while contracts will favour bidders with 30 per cent made up of small-to-midsize companies.

Other posts by Chris Forrester:

1. United Airlines will dump geo-satellites
2. AST SpaceMobile launched and ready to connect
3. AT&T boss: “Satellite constellations are great”
4. Starlink Texas factory capable of 4.68m terminals annually
5. Bank: Starlink facing multiple challenges
6. India stalls again on satellite licensing
7. Bank raises AST SpaceMobile target
8. AST SpaceMobile reaches $10bn market cap
9. China uses Galactic Energy ship to launch satellites

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