It is widely accepted that the EU’s plan to build a low Earth orbiting constellation of satellites to rival that of SpaceX’s Starlink is in trouble. One reliable observer described the project as “fading away”. The EU’s IRIS² (Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite) scheme is seen as over-ambitious and thus too expensive. […]

The IRIS2 consortium, which is seeking to build a satellite mega-constellation on behalf of the European Commission, looks as if it is on the verge of collapse. French newspaper La Tribune says that due to risk assessment, Thales Alenia Space and Airbus Space, the subsidiaries of the two European aerospace giants, have sent a letter […]

The European Commission wants to build a new satellite constellation called IRIS2. A consortium (SpaceRise) has submitted its best and final bid to secure the contract to build the highly-secure system which will be targeted at military, governmental and potentially consumer users. However, Germany has not been keen on the proposal and has issued very […]

IRIS2 is the European Commission’s (EC) scheme for a major super-secure satellite constellation. It is already extremely late in coming to any sort of agreement as to how its proposed public/private finance can be structured. Now the European Space Agency (ESA) has spoken out with something of a rescue plan. ESA director general Josef Aschbacher […]

The EU is reportedly looking to “haggle down” the cost of its planned IRIS² mega-constellation of broadband satellites. Reports suggest that the EU Commission looking after the already delayed project wants the end costs to be around €8 billion instead of the current rumoured €12 billion. But tough as this decision is, there are also […]

IRIS2, which is a massive European project to provide an independent broadband-by-satellite service for the military, governments and consumers, is facing some major headaches. IRIS2 (Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite) had been planned to be deployed by 2027. That date is now extremely doubtful, and the scheme already faces challenges of anticipated […]

The European Space Agency (ESA) has secured €900 million in funding for the European Commission’s (EC) IRIS2 proposed mega-constellation (Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite). ESA is the multi-orbit project’s technical manager. ESA delivered a briefing on March 27 and its director of telecommunications and navigation, Javier Benedicto, explained that the final bid […]

Germany’s Bundeswehr is still investigating concept of own MEO constellation of 12-24 sats to be ready for service from 2032. The military unit, according to reports, still seems doubtful over IRIS² and the EU’s proposal for a global scheme to serve governments and military demands for secure connectivity. The news emerged at a Luxembourg conference […]

The EU’s giant IRIS2 broadband by satellite plan is already facing challenges. IRIS2 (Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite) is the European Union’s answer to “pressing challenge of tomorrow, offering enhanced communication capacities to governmental users, businesses, while ensuring high-speed internet broadband to cope with connectivity dead zones.” But there are problems for […]