European Union, An internet satellite constellation that could rival Elon Musk’s Starlink announced plans to establish EU, It signed a deal worth 10.6 billion euros to launch almost 300 satellites into low and medium orbits by 2030. With this project it aims to increase digital sovereignty by providing secure communications to governments.

First announced in 2022, Iris² stands out as a public-private partnership with an estimated initial cost of 6 billion euros and an increase of 76% due to difficult negotiations.

The European Union’s IRIS² project

IRIS² (Satellite Resilience, Connectivity and Security Infrastructure) is a multi-orbit satellite Internet constellation expected to be deployed by the European Union in 2027. 61% of the program will be financed with public funds; The industrial consortium SpaceRise, which was selected in October, will take care of the rest. This group also includes French satellite giant Eutelsat, which will merge with European rival OneWeb in 2022.

Musk’s Starlink now has nearly 6,000 satellites in orbit and has reached 4 million subscribers. It is expanding its customer base by signing agreements with major companies such as Royal Caribbean and United Airlines. Alsoa Direct-to-phone service with T-Mobile Preparing to launch.

This new agreement is seen as an important step to strengthen Europe’s digital sovereignty and achieve an independent position in the global internet infrastructure. Iris² projectI want to make Europe a stronger player in the field of space technology.