# IRIS² IRIS² (Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite) is the [[European Union]]'s planned network of communications satellites for governments. It is meant to give EU governments, militaries, police and emergency services secure satellite communications that do not depend on [[Starlink]] or any other foreign-controlled system. The EU adopted it in 2023 with an initial budget of about €10.6 billion in public and private money. ## Who builds it The network is being built and will be run by SpaceRISE, a consortium of three European satellite operators: Luxembourg's SES, France's Eutelsat (owner of [[OneWeb]]) and Spain's Hispasat. It signed a 12-year concession with the European Commission in December 2024. European manufacturers including Airbus, Thales Alenia Space and OHB are building the hardware, and the [[European Space Agency]] provides technical support. ## Expanded and accelerated in 2026 On 7 August 2026, the Commission and SpaceRISE signed an expanded deal. It added 66 satellites, bringing the planned total to 348: 330 in low orbit and 18 in medium orbit. First launches are now targeted for 2029, with services rolling out from then. The Commission said secure government capacity would rise by 60 percent within the EU. Individual countries are adding money: Poland has committed €656 million, Hungary €500 million, and Spain has announced €1.6–2 billion. Norway and Iceland are participating from outside the EU. ## The case for it, and the case against **Supporters** say Europe learned in Ukraine that a single private company's owner can decide whether a military's communications work. A continent that wants to defend itself needs its own network, even if it costs more. **Critics** say IRIS² is late, expensive and small. Starlink already has more than 9,000 satellites in orbit; IRIS² will have a few hundred, and none before 2029. Some industry voices have questioned whether a government-designed network can keep up with commercial technology that changes every few years. ## Why it's on the map IRIS² is Europe's most direct policy response to its dependence on [[Elon Musk]]'s Starlink, and it is a large, real-money test of whether "strategic autonomy" can be bought. It belongs alongside [[Ariane]] and [[OneWeb]] as part of a pattern: Europe repeatedly decides that paying more for its own infrastructure is better than depending on someone else's. ## See also - [[European Union]] — the program's owner - [[OneWeb]] — Eutelsat's network and part of the IRIS² consortium - [[Starlink]] · [[Amazon Leo]] — the commercial competitors - [[European Space Agency]] — technical partner - [[Ariane]] — the other European bet on independent space infrastructure - [[Space Hub]] — the parent hub