It is intended to provide secure communications, location tracking and security surveillance services to governmental agencies[8] directly comparable to the US SpaceX Starshield project.[9] The system aims to also provide broadband for private companies and citizens.[1] At contract signing in December 2024, the estimated cost was €10.5 billion, of which €6.5 was public funds.[10]
The project was announced by the Council of the EU in November 2022.[2] A single multi-national industrial consortium, including Airbus Defence and Space, Thales Alenia Space and Arianespace among others, was tasked to develop it.[13][14] The constellation is expected to be launched by European rockets such as Ariane 6. The latter's first launch, initially scheduled for the end of the year 2022, was delayed several times,[15][16][17] and finally took place on 9 July 2024.[18][19][20][21]
The contract was originally scheduled to be awarded by the end of March but the European Commission apparently put it on hold. At a meeting of an EU parliamentary committee on April 9 2024, EU commissioner for the internal market, Thierry Breton, stated the commission was still finalizing the contract without providing an estimate regarding when it would be completed.[14]
After the February 2025 Trump–Zelenskyy meeting and subsequent suspension of all US military aid to Ukraine, the question arose how much longer Starlink services with its 7000 satellites would be available to Ukraine. However, IRIS² would not be in orbit until 2030 and the current European service Eutelsat OneWeb is much more expensive to use.[25] In April 2025, it was revealed that Germany has been financing Ukraine’s use of Eutelsat satellite internet services for about a year as an alternative to Starlink.[26]
In March 2025, Norway requested to join IRIS² and the negotiations with the EU started on March 13.[27]
Later in March, the Swiss satellite communication company WISeSat.Space announces the creation of a new subsidiary in Spain in order to align with the IRIS² programme.[28]
In August 2025, the SpaceRISE consortium (Eutelsat, Hispasat, and SES) has narrowed the field of potential prime contractors for IRIS² to Airbus (France) and Aerospacelab (Belgium).[30][31]
In September 2025, Poland allocated funds for six secure communications satellites, an additional contribution to the country's commitments to IRIS².[32][33]
