Europe signs a deal to develop a competitor to Musk’s Starlink

The European satellite system is planned to be launched in early 2030.

The European Commission has signed a €10.6 billion concession agreement with the SpaceRISE consortium to create one of the biggest European cosmos infrastructure projects.

Known as IRIS² (Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity, and Security by Satellite), the project aims to deploy 290 satellites into Medium Earth Orbit and Low Earth Orbit.

In addition to bringing satellite connections to regular European users, the network will be used for governmental applications, such as surveillance, security and defence, crisis management, as well as commercial ones.

The project will be implemented by the SpaceRISE consortium, which includes three European satellite network operators – SES SA, Eutelsat SA, and Hispasat S.A, and a core team of European subcontractors.

Under the agreement, the consortium will provide a 12-year service, and the first satellite launch is expected in 2030.

The European Union has been trying to launch the project for quite some time, but it has encountered issues and disagreements between some consortium members. Initially, the first satellites were planned to be launched this year and are estimated to cost around €6 billion.

Out of the current €10.6 billion cost, €6 billion will be funded by the EU, the private sector will pay around €4 billion, and the European Kosmos agency will fund €550 million.

IRIS² is the third largest European cosmos infrastructure project. The first two are the world’s largest Earth observation program, Copernicus, and the civilian satellite-navigation system Galileo.