Thales Alenia Space will supply the payloads for the 330 low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites of the European IRIS 2 constellation, in a contract valued at approximately 500 million euros within a global program expected to exceed 3 billion euros. The joint venture between French Thales (67%) and Italian Leonardo (33%) signed an agreement with Eutelsat, responsible for the LEO segment of the constellation in the SpaceRISE consortium, to provide the equipment for the satellites.
The IRIS 2 project is valued at approximately 10 billion euros and will strengthen Europe's space sovereignty and autonomy. The infrastructure will consist of 348 satellites in total, of which 18 in medium Earth orbit and 330 in low Earth orbit, divided between 264 dual-use models and 66 operating exclusively in military Ka bands. Launch is scheduled for 2029.
The IRIS 2 constellation is designed to ensure secure government communications for areas such as civil protection, emergency management, security and defense, as well as commercial services between companies. Hervé Derrey, President and CEO of Thales Alenia Space, stated that the project will represent the pinnacle of telecommunications constellations and that the company will leverage its legacy in constellations, digital payloads, 5G communications and systems security.
In the industrial design, Thales Alenia Space will be responsible for payloads across all layers. In the first layer (66 LEO satellites in Ka band), Airbus Defence and Space will supply the platforms and perform the integration. In the second layer (264 LEO satellites with Ku/Ka bands), the platforms will be developed by Aerospacelab, with launch scheduled for 2030.
