The European Union (EU) launched on Thursday the Iris, a constellation of satellites designed to guarantee the internet and its communications “everywhere”, starting in 2027, announced the Commissioner for Industry and Space, Thierry Breton.
Iris is a big step for our resilience and a big step for our technological sovereignty,” he said in a message posted on the social network Twitter.
The cost of the project was estimated at six billion euros and an agreement was reached after nine months of negotiations between the European Parliament and member states on financing.
This will be divided into 2,400 million from the EU budget, to which must be added 750 million euros from the European Space Agency. The rest will come from the private sector.
Community money will essentially come from the reallocation of funds earmarked for European programs linked to space, such as the European Defense Fund, but also funds from the Horizon Europe program that have not been used.
Iris should allow member states to provide secure connections, particularly for military use, and the Internet “everywhere, even in the most remote regions of the EU and Africa.” Above all, it should allow “maintaining it in case of ‘cash’ from terrestrial infrastructures”.
The first services should be provided by the end of 2024 and Iris should be fully operational in 2027, the Breton cabinet announced.
The European Union wants to guarantee its communications and not be surprised by the projects developed by the US and China. The orbits and frequencies have already been defined.
Iris must be made up of hundreds of satellites placed in various orbits and integrate defense capabilities against computer attacks.
The EU wants to be able to monitor traffic in space “from space” with this new constellation. This project also strengthens Galileo, the satellite positioning system, and Copernicus, the Earth observation system.
Source: TSF
