IRIS2 signing slips
December 18, 2023
By Chris Forrester
The European Union’s planned IRIS2 broadband multi-orbit mega-constellation which was planned to be firmly in its final stages of agreement by mid-December, has slipped.
IRIS2 (Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite) is a major EU satellite initiative providing “a space-based secure communication system for the benefit of EU citizens” had an admitted aggressive programme of key dates and deadlines. But the scheme, designed so that Europe can offer enhanced communication capacities to governmental users as well as to business users, is complicated.
The EU wants a consortium of European suppliers and operators, plus a 30 per cent participation of “smaller businesses”. The concept includes geo-stationary satellite operators, hardware manufactures and a new low Earth orbiting constellation. Bringing these various elements together has not been easy, and the “best offer” date for financial terms and obligations expected in mid-December has been missed and not likely to be in place until February, or later.
The (Space Rise) consortium is headed by Airbus and Thales Alenia with SES, Hispasat and Eutelsat all figuring in the line-up. Airbus is the lead coordinator.
The European Space Agency, in a December 14th briefing, stressed that the projects core dates are still achievable and essentially in place.
However, still to be confirmed are the “30 per cent” of smaller businesses, and this will take many months to agree and secure participation.
The service is stated to be operational in 2027.