Moving toward a 348-satellite system, the EU's 'other satellite network' has begun to move
On August 7, the European Commission and the satellite consortium 'SpaceRISE' concluded negotiations on the EU's satellite communication infrastructure 'IRIS²' and signed an implementation agreement. The negotiations, which had been ongoing since January of this year, have finally solidified conditions such as design, operational structure, pricing, and private-sector investment. With this, the project has moved in earnest from the planning stage to the phase of actually building and launching satellites.
Honestly, when I heard the name IRIS², I just thought, 'Another large-scale EU project.' However, when I followed the details, I could see a sense of crisis unique to Europe that goes beyond mere communication infrastructure.
The decision to add 66 satellites
What stands out in this agreement is the addition of 66 low-Earth orbit satellites that were not in the original plan. This expands the main constellation to 348 satellites (330 in low-Earth orbit and 18 in medium-Earth orbit). The additional units are designed for defense, security, and emergency response, and are said to increase government communication capacity within the EU by 60% and globally by 54%.
The launch is scheduled to begin in 2029, and in addition to major European space companies such as Airbus Defence and Space, Thales Alenia Space, OHB, and Aerospacelab, opportunities for entry are also being provided to startups and small to medium-sized enterprises.
A design philosophy of not competing with Starlink
IRIS² is often introduced as the 'European version of Starlink,' but in terms of scale alone, the impression is quite different. Starlink already operates over 10,000 satellites, which is nearly two orders of magnitude different from the 348 satellites of IRIS². In fact, as I mentioned in a previous article summarizing SpaceX's satellite strategy, SpaceX is a company that has grown its communication satellite business through mass-market deployment for individual users.
On the other hand, what IRIS² is aiming for is not a battle in consumer broadband. It is a design that prioritizes 'sovereignty' over 'quantity'—ensuring that government agencies, the military, and emergency response teams can reliably communicate on lines under their own country's control even in times of crisis. It is reported that concerns within the EU about entrusting national security to private overseas infrastructure, sparked by real-world examples in Ukraine, have bolstered this direction.
Countries are already contributing their own funds
What is interesting is that IRIS² funding is not covered solely by the EU budget. Poland has already contributed 656 million euros, Hungary 500 million euros, and Spain has announced an investment in the range of 1.6 to 2 billion euros. In addition to the overall EU framework, each member state is making additional investments according to its own circumstances, which I feel is a way of proceeding that is typical of a 'not monolithic Europe'.
Participating countries are also expanding outside the EU, with Norway and Iceland already having joined. Although the contribution amounts from both countries are not very large, in the tens of millions of euros, the fact that non-member countries are joining the framework of 'European communication sovereignty' is something that cannot be overlooked when considering the positioning of this project.
What is interesting is that many of these additional investments cite 'defense' as a clear reason. Originally, IRIS² began as a project about communication infrastructure, but now it is increasingly being discussed as part of security policy. There are also reports that Germany is preparing its own national constellation on a scale of 10 billion euros, so it does not seem that the EU as a whole is perfectly aligned. Under the banner of 'European space sovereignty,' one can see a composition where each country is actually moving according to its own intentions.
How to fill the 'three-year gap'
Another point of concern is that the full-scale operation of IRIS² will not begin until 2029. Even in comparative analyses by researchers, differences in design philosophy are discussed based on the premise of a 300-satellite scale for IRIS² versus over 10,000 for Starlink, but during the intervening years, Europe will experience a gap period where it does not have its own high-speed, low-latency government-dedicated lines.
This gap seems to be planned to be temporarily filled by another framework called 'GOVSATCOM,' which gathers existing geostationary satellites. However, geostationary satellites are said to take nearly 600 milliseconds for a round trip to the ground, which seems like a somewhat unreliable figure for use in crisis response situations. It seems that several bridges will still need to be built before IRIS² begins to function in a true sense.
When it comes to space development, it is easy to focus on the number of launches and the flashiness of the technology, but looking at IRIS², the mundane issue of 'who manages the lines' may become the axis that drives future space business. If you look only at the number 348, it looks like a modest project, but behind it are layers of national intentions and bargaining over funding, and I feel it is a theme that is never boring to follow.
List of reference articles
〇IRIS²: Commission and SpaceRISE conclude negotiations, paving the way to full-scale deployment (August 7, 2026)
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_26_1726
〇Europe finalizes plans for its 'sovereign' Starlink competitor (August 7, 2026)
〇IRIS2 Build Authorized: EU Adds Quantum-Secured Defense Layer to 348-Satellite Network (August 7, 2026)
〇Toward EU Sovereignty in Space: A Comparative Simulation Study of IRIS2 and Starlink (April 17, 2026)
〇First non-EU countries join European alternative to Starlink (April 30, 2026)