EU deploys first satellite service in bid to limit US dependence

(Representational image)

The European Union has switched on parts of its homegrown secure satellite communications network for the first time, as part of a €10.6 billion push to provide an alternative to Starlink and wean itself off US support amid growing tensions.

Elements of the IRIS2 and GOVSATCOM networks began limited operations last week for government and military use, Defense and Space Commissioner Andrius Kubilius said at the European space conference in Brussels on Tuesday. Ukraine has requested access, and provisions to do so are under way, he said.

“All member states can now have access to sovereign satellite communication. Military and government. Secure and encrypted. Built in Europe — operated in Europe, under European control,” Kubilius said. “Experts are saying it would be better than Starlink. This is our ambition.

The IRIS2 network will eventually have 290 satellites in multiple orbits. It is scheduled to be fully operational by 2030, serving both private customers and governments, Kubilius said. Luxembourg-based SES SA, France’s Eutelsat SA, and Spain’s Hispasat SA are building the satellites.

“The geopolitical developments are demanding us to speed up and to give those services,” he said, a(Representational image)dding that such systems are a crucial element of so-called “strategic enablers” — high-end military capabilities that Europe leans heavily on the US for.