EU to spend nearly €11 billion for secure alternative to Musk's Starlink
EU to create Elon Musk's Starlink (photo: Getty Images)
The European Union is planning to build a €10.6 billion satellite constellation. It will provide the bloc with an encrypted global Internet connection and serve as an alternative to Elon Musk's Starlink, Bloomberg reports.
The EU has signed contracts to start work on IRIS2, a multi-orbiting network of 290 satellites that should be fully operational by 2030 and will be able to serve European governments, militaries, and private customers.
The EU is concerned about the reliance on private service after militaries around the world have expressed interest in Starlink applications. The plan, which will be implemented through a public-private partnership, aims to make IRIS2 a European alternative to third-party players.
The EU will invest €6 billion, companies will contribute €4.1 billion, and the European Space Agency will provide €550 million. The contract will be valid for 12 years, and part of the EU's investment will depend on the approval of the bloc's member states.
The bloc's new Commissioner for Defense and Space, Andrius Kubilius, hailed the signing as a “major step forward” for the bloc's security and defense, saying Europe is under threat in many ways, including from Russia's jamming of navigation signals.
“In times of war, we can’t afford to lose connectivity,” he said.
Starlink was an essential factor during Russia's war against Ukraine, where Kyiv's army used it to conduct military operations. Musk's advisory role in the incoming Donald Trump administration raises additional questions about how that role could affect Starlink's operations.
“There is this narrative in the industry that Starlink has won and everybody else is dead, right? That’s not true,” SES CEO 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. Even small countries are looking to launch a satellite.”
Al-Saleh said that the IRIS2 contract will allow companies like SES, which develops satellites operating in higher orbit than Starlink, to thrive, as the EU is their “anchor customer.”
SES and other companies will also be allowed to sell some of their services to commercial customers, and a European Commission spokesman said that about half of the satellite capacity will be reserved for government needs.
Starlink is a project of SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, aimed at creating a global satellite network to provide high-speed Internet access around the world. Starlink satellites are placed in low orbit (about 550 km above the Earth), which ensures minimal signal delay. Starlink has already put 6,000 satellites into orbit.
According to The Washington Post, the Russian army has also started using Starlink terminals.
