The European Commission has initiated negotiations with Ukraine for accession to the European program for the EU's future satellite constellation IRIS 2, which will provide Member States with a secure communication network, including on defense matters, as well as accession to the Govsatcom project. The announcement was made by Andrius Kubilius, European Commissioner for Defense and Space, at the International Space Summit in Paris.
The Old Continent intends to compete with Starlink. Pressured by the shortage of air defense systems, Kyiv has sought to reinforce its capabilities to contain Russian attacks through the systems of Elon Musk's company. Recently, the President of Ukraine asked his American counterpart to speak with Musk about the possibility of allowing the use of Starlink in long-range drones up to 200 kilometers inside Russia.
In July, the European Commission and the SpaceRISE consortium, made up of SES, Eutelsat and Hispasat, signed an agreement for the implementation of IRIS 2. European manufacturers committed to providing additional satellites, designed with greater resilience. The future constellation is composed of 348 satellites, of which 330 in low Earth orbit and 18 in medium Earth orbit.
This Thursday, both Airbus Defence and Space and Thales Alenia Space announced agreements with Eutelsat, the company responsible for the low orbit segment of the constellation in the SpaceRISE consortium, to begin producing the first satellites of IRIS 2 and supply the payloads for the 330 satellites of the European constellation.
