Europe will launch a satellite network that could compete with Elon Musk's Starlink. A record €10.6 billion was allocated for the project

Europe has officially launched one of the most ambitious space programs of the last decade, signing a contract for the creation of a multi-orbit satellite network Iris² - this is Europe's third major infrastructure project in space after the navigation system Galileo and Copernicus, writes the Financial Times.

The European Commission has set the price of the program at €10.6 billion, 61% of which will be provided by the authorities, and the rest will be provided by the industrial consortium SpaceRise, led by Eutelsat, Hispasat and SES. The project was initially estimated to cost around €6 billion. SpaceRise, which also includes European space and communications companies Airbus, Deutsche Telekom, Telespazio and Thales, will have a 12-year concession to design, build and operate Iris². French satellite operator Eutelsat is investing €2 billion in the project as the largest private investor.

As part of the project, 290 satellites will be placed in low and medium Earth orbits. System services will begin to be provided to project participants from 2025 through the use of existing satellite capacities of EU member countries, and full operation of the Iris² infrastructure is planned for 2030.

Most of the satellite capacity will be dedicated to commercial broadband services that satellite operators will offer to businesses and the public. But a significant portion will be dedicated to government security applications such as monitoring and crisis management.

The program will help Europe's space industry adapt to the transition from large communications satellites in geostationary orbit some 36,000 km above Earth to mega-constellations of smaller spacecraft in low Earth orbit, a region of space up to 2,000 km high.

In September 2023, former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi noted that Elon Musk's Starlink satellite broadband service, with more than 6,000 spacecraft providing communications services in more than 100 countries, was "disrupting European telecom operators and manufacturers."

Timo Pesonen, director general of the commission for defence, industry and space, said that it is strategically important for Europe to have its own space communications network for autonomy and defense capability. European Space Agency Director General Josef Aschbacher is confident that the program will “promote innovation in the European space industry, increase European competitiveness and create jobs.”