Competition for Starlink: The EU wants to guarantee secure communications for companies and citizens with a satellite network. The EU parliament and member states agreed on Thursday evening to set up a satellite constellation called Iris2 (Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnection and Security by Satellites). The EU budget will provide 2.4 billion euros for this in the coming years.
“This is historic!” wrote EU Commissioner Thierry Breton on Twitter. The EU thus adds a third component to its strategic space infrastructure – in addition to the satellite navigation system Galileo and Copernicus, which is used for Earth observation.
“This program is an important step towards more strategic autonomy in Europe,” said CSU MEP Angelika Niebler about the new program. The war in Ukraine has shown that the EU has so far been completely dependent on third countries or private companies for satellite telecommunications. “The program decided today is intended to change this,” Niebler said.
Planned launch in 2027
Iris is primarily intended to ensure the resilience of EU systems – including to protect critical infrastructure such as energy networks or healthcare – and to ensure that citizens and businesses have access to high-speed internet. Not only must radio blind spots in Europe be filled with high-speed internet, but the connection must also be made possible in strategic regions such as Africa and the Arctic. The new services should be fully operational from 2027.
The agreement has yet to be formally ratified by the EU parliament and states, but this is considered a formality.
Source: Krone
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