Europe Is Building Its Own Secure Satellite Network

The European Union is expanding its ambitions in space, adding 66 satellites to its IRIS² secure connectivity programme and bringing the planned constellation to 348 satellites. The expansion marks another step towards a European communications network designed to provide secure connectivity for governments, emergency services and other critical users. The system is expected to begin initial operations in 2029, turning what was once primarily a technology project into an increasingly important part of Europe’s security infrastructure.

The timing is significant. Satellite communications are no longer simply a commercial service or a tool for remote connectivity. They have become a strategic asset that can determine whether governments, military organisations and emergency services remain connected when terrestrial networks are damaged, disrupted or deliberately targeted. By expanding IRIS², the EU is attempting to ensure that Europe has its own communications infrastructure available when access to foreign-controlled systems cannot be guaranteed.

From Connectivity to Strategic Autonomy

The underlying logic of IRIS² is closely connected to Europe’s broader push for strategic autonomy. Over the past several years, governments have become increasingly aware of how dependent critical digital infrastructure can be on companies and technologies headquartered outside Europe. Satellite communications have made that dependence particularly visible, as private networks can provide capabilities that governments themselves may not directly control.

IRIS² is designed to give European institutions another option. Rather than relying exclusively on commercial networks, European governments will have access to a system developed through an EU framework and supported by European industry. The objective is not necessarily to replace commercial satellite services, but to ensure that Europe retains a secure communications layer over which it has a greater degree of control.

The additional 66 satellites strengthen that architecture. The expanded constellation is expected to increase the capacity and resilience of secure governmental communications, while also supporting broadband and other connectivity services. The system will combine satellites operating at different orbital levels, creating a network capable of serving both strategic government users and wider connectivity needs.

Europe’s Answer to a New Space Dependency

The emergence of large commercial satellite constellations has fundamentally changed the strategic importance of space. Networks such as Starlink demonstrated that a private company can operate infrastructure with capabilities that were once associated almost exclusively with states. That has created opportunities, but it has also raised questions about who ultimately controls critical communications during a crisis.

For Europe, the issue is therefore not simply technological competition. It is a question of political control. If governments depend on infrastructure operated by companies outside the EU, their ability to guarantee access during a geopolitical crisis can ultimately depend on decisions taken elsewhere.

IRIS² gives Brussels a way to reduce that vulnerability. It creates a European-controlled layer of connectivity that can support public authorities and critical services even as commercial markets and geopolitical relationships change. In this sense, the programme belongs to the same broader European strategy that has produced independent capabilities in navigation, Earth observation and secure governmental communications.

A Major Industrial Project

IRIS² is also becoming an industrial policy project on a scale that extends well beyond the satellite constellation itself. The programme is valued at around €15.6 billion and is being developed by the SpaceRISE consortium, which includes major European satellite operators such as SES, Eutelsat and Hispasat.

Hispasat has been given a leading role in the development of the ground infrastructure required to operate the network, including antennas, control systems and communications links. The company is also expected to lead work on part of the low-Earth-orbit infrastructure supporting direct-to-device connectivity and Internet of Things applications. The scale of these contracts illustrates how the EU is using strategic infrastructure spending to strengthen its own space industry.

That industrial dimension could become increasingly important as Europe tries to expand its defence and technological capabilities. Building a secure satellite network requires far more than launching spacecraft. It creates demand for satellite manufacturing, launch services, ground stations, cybersecurity, software, sensors and network-management technologies. The result is a supply chain that can support Europe’s wider ambitions in space and defence.

The 2029 Deadline

The main challenge now is implementation. The EU has set 2029 as the target for initial services, leaving several years to manufacture hundreds of satellites, establish the necessary ground infrastructure, coordinate launches and integrate the different components into a functioning network. Large-scale space programmes have historically faced delays and technical complications, meaning that the political agreement is only the beginning of the process.

Europe is also building other satellite capabilities at the same time. GOVSATCOM, the EU’s secure governmental satellite communications initiative, began providing services in 2026 and is intended to bridge the gap before IRIS² becomes fully operational. National governments are also developing their own military satellite programmes, creating a more complicated European space environment in which national and EU-level capabilities must coexist.

The question will be whether these systems can complement one another rather than develop into parallel infrastructures competing for funding, industrial capacity and strategic relevance. Europe’s space ambitions are growing quickly, but coordination remains one of the continent’s recurring challenges.

Space Is Becoming European Security Infrastructure

The expansion of IRIS² reflects a broader change in how Europe understands the role of space. Navigation, communications and Earth observation are increasingly treated as critical infrastructure rather than specialised technological services. Losing access to any of these capabilities during a major crisis could affect military operations, emergency response, transport, energy systems and the ability of governments to communicate.

Europe has already built independent capabilities in several of these areas. Galileo reduced reliance on foreign navigation systems, while Copernicus created a European framework for Earth observation. IRIS² adds secure connectivity to that portfolio, potentially giving the EU another piece of infrastructure that it can operate and protect according to its own strategic priorities.

The addition of 66 satellites is therefore about more than expanding the size of a constellation. It signals that Europe increasingly sees control over communications infrastructure as part of its broader security architecture. If IRIS² reaches operational status on schedule, the EU will have taken another step towards building a space ecosystem in which connectivity, industrial capacity and strategic autonomy reinforce one another.