The European Union is moving into the next phase of building its own satellite communications system, IRIS². On August 7, 2026, the European Commission announced a new implementation agreement with the SpaceRISE consortium that expands the planned constellation and moves the programme into full-scale deployment. The project is intended to provide Europe with its own secure satellite communications infrastructure and reduce dependence on systems controlled by companies outside the EU.
The revised architecture calls for a total of 348 satellites. Of these, 330 will operate in higher Low Earth Orbit, or LEO, while another 18 will be positioned in Medium Earth Orbit, or MEO. The combination is designed to take advantage of the lower latency offered by LEO satellites and the broader coverage available from MEO. The constellation is therefore considerably smaller than Starlink, which operates thousands of satellites, but the two systems were designed with different priorities.
IRIS² should not simply be regarded as a European copy of Starlink. One of its primary purposes is to provide secure and resilient communications for EU institutions, national governments, diplomatic services, emergency responders and other strategically important users. The network is intended to maintain communications during crises, natural disasters and situations in which terrestrial infrastructure is damaged or unavailable.
Defence and security are also becoming increasingly important elements of the programme. The expanded architecture includes additional high-capacity satellites intended to strengthen support for defence, security and crisis-response operations. IRIS² is expected to provide protected communications for government and military users and contribute to Europe’s broader objective of increasing its technological and strategic autonomy.
The network will not be limited to government users. The project is also designed to support commercial services for companies and citizens. One of its objectives is to improve broadband connectivity in rural, remote and underserved areas where building conventional terrestrial communications infrastructure can be difficult or economically unattractive.
However, IRIS² is not yet operational as a complete constellation. The agreement signed in August moves the programme from detailed planning toward full-scale deployment, while the revised timetable brings the first launches forward to 2029. Secure European connectivity services are expected to begin progressively after the initial satellites are deployed. Describing IRIS² as an almost completed alternative to Starlink would therefore give a misleading impression of the programme’s current status.
The scale of the two networks is also very different. IRIS² will initially consist of hundreds rather than thousands of satellites because its priorities include secure government connectivity, resilience and guaranteed European-controlled communications capacity alongside commercial broadband services. Starlink, by contrast, was developed primarily as a large-scale global broadband network.
IRIS² is also part of a wider European effort to strengthen control over strategically important technological infrastructure. Satellite communications are increasingly important not only for internet access but also for defence, transportation, energy networks, financial services, critical infrastructure and disaster response. Having a European-controlled network should provide an additional communications channel that EU governments can rely on independently of foreign operators.
IRIS² should therefore not be viewed as a system that will immediately replace Starlink. Instead, the European Union is building its own sovereign and secure satellite infrastructure that will overlap with some of Starlink’s capabilities while serving a broader strategic purpose. With the programme now entering the deployment phase and the first launches planned for 2029, Europe has moved significantly closer to establishing its own large-scale satellite communications network.
