The SpaceRISE consortium of satellite operators has won a contract to supply a major constellation of highly secure satellites. The SpaceRISE consortium comprises Eutelsat, SES and Hispasat and other smaller members. The contract will run for 12 years, and the consortium will put around €4 billion into the project, but the overall costs are reported […]

Last week Germany expressed in no uncertain terms its unhappiness over the EU-backed IRIS² Low Earth Orbiting system which would give Europe’s governments a secure, encrypted satellite fleet and an alternate to Elon Musk’s Starlink broadband system. (IRIS² Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite). The German government strongly opposes IRIS² due to its […]

The European Commission (EC), in a press briefing, confirmed that its planned IRIS² satellite connectivity project has selected ‘SpaceRise’ which currently comprises operators SES and Eutelsat and is the only bidding consortium. The EC said that the project is on track and a contract can now be signed on or before March 24th. Certain further […]

Integrasys, a specilaist in software satellite communications solutions, has announced the acquisition of Sciurus, a Spanish technology company known for its innovation, and intellectual property with state-of-the-art prototypes. Integrasys says this strategic move marks a significant step in its expansion plan, which has been steadily unfolding since 2017. The integration of Sciurus and its know-how […]

SES CEO Steve Collar, speaking to analysts following on from the satellite operator’s Q1 results on May 4th, said the European Union’s third global satellite constellation, IRIS², was a “strategic project” for SES. Nevertheless, he admitted that while enthusiastic there were still many known unknowns and it was too early to be more specific. “We’re […]

The fact that the IRIS² satellite consortium includes just about every major name in the European space business provides a strong clue as to the project’s overall importance. IRIS², with a nod to the Greek goddess of mythology and messenger of the gods and also in its own EU-speak, Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security […]

SES has confirmed that it has joined a group of European space and telecommunications players, including rival Eutelsat, which have come together to form a partnership to respond to the European Commission’s call for tender related to the future European satellite constellation IRIS² (Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite). The IRIS² satellite constellation […]

SES will announce its Q1 results on May 4th. Analysts from Berenberg Bank say that for the past six quarter-years the satellite operator has disappointed with at least two of its key deliverables. But the bank is still sticking to its ‘BUY’ rating, albeit with a slightly reduced price target for SES share price (of […]

A meeting of the European Parliament on February 14th saw 604 members vote in favour of financing the IRIS² mega-constellation of low Earth orbiting satellites. Just six members objected. The Parliament approved the plan to invest €2.4 billion (about $2.57 billion) in initial funding. The cash is drawn from Horizon Europe research fund (€430 million), […]