The European Union signed contracts on Monday for a €10.6 billion satellite project aimed at rivaling Elon Musk’s Starlink, with plans to launch 290 satellites by 2030 as concerns grow over space-based communications sovereignty.
The IRIS2 constellation will be built through a public-private partnership involving Luxembourg’s SES SA, France’s Eutelsat SA, and Spain’s Hispasat SA. The EU will invest €6 billion, pending member state approval, while the companies will contribute €4.1 billion and the European Space Agency €550 million.
The project significantly trails Starlink, which operates more than 6,000 satellites serving customers in about 100 countries. Musk’s advisory role in the incoming Trump administration has intensified European concerns about dependence on private satellite services.
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“In times of war, we can’t afford to lose connectivity,” Kubilius said, after warning that Europe faces multiple threats, including Russian signal jamming.
“There is this narrative in the industry that Starlink has won and everybody else is dead, right? That’s not true,” SES Chief Executive Officer Adel Al-Saleh told Bloomberg. “They invest a lot of money so they are very difficult to compete with. However, every country and every nation wants to have sovereignty and independence.”
The 12-year contract allows participating companies to sell commercial services while reserving half the constellation’s capacity for government use. SES, which develops higher-orbit satellites than Starlink, will serve as the EU’s “anchor customer.”
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