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EU Approves $11 Billion Satellite Network to Compete with Musk’s Starlink

December 17, 2024 TruthUSA

The system will ensure Europe retains connectivity ‘even in a hostile environment,’ an EU official said.

The European Union is developing a competitor to Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite system and similar networks, aiming to strengthen regional security through a satellite communication network that ensures uninterrupted access to “secure governmental connectivity services while also providing high-end commercial services,” according to the European Space Agency.

The European Space Agency and the European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, on Dec. 16 signed a 10.6 billion euro ($11.11 billion) contract with the SpaceRISE consortium of three European satellite operators: SES, Eutelsat, and Hispasat. Under the deal, the consortium will design, deliver, and run the IRIS² satellite system for 12 years.

The IRIS² satellite constellation is a network of 290 Low Earth Orbit and Medium Earth Orbit satellites that aims to provide secure broadband connectivity to the bloc’s member nations.

The EU’s development of a satellite system comes amid concerns about Starlink’s use during periods of conflict. Starlink is a network of nearly 6,500 satellites. In 2022, Ukraine planned a drone strike near Crimea, which was annexed by Russia. When Ukraine asked for Starlink to be activated in the area, Musk denied the request.

“If I had agreed to their request, then SpaceX would be explicitly complicit in a major act of war and conflict escalation,” Musk said last year.

The European Commission’s commissioner for defense and space, Andrius Kubilius, welcomed the signing of the IRIS² agreement, saying that the satellite system “will be vital” for the EU’s security and defense.

“In times of crisis, we cannot afford to be too dependent on countries or companies from outside the European Union,” he said in a Dec. 16 statement. “IRIS² will bring us the resilience and autonomy we so badly need. In times of war, we cannot afford to lose connectivity. Ukraine teaches us that tragic lesson every day. In Ukraine on the battlefield when connectivity fails, lives are lost. In Ukraine, when Russian forces disrupt Ukrainian signals, Ukrainian soldiers die, civilians die—men, women and children.”

IRIS² is expected to give Europe connectivity “even in a hostile environment,” allowing communication lines to remain open even when hostile actors jam them or carry out cyber attacks, he said.

The first satellite in the IRIS² network is expected to be launched in 2029, with services scheduled to begin in 2030. Out of the 10.6 billion euro funding, the European Union will pay 6 billion euros ($6.3 billion); ESA, 550 million euros ($578 million); and the private sector, more than 4 billion euros ($4.2 billion).

Multinational Satellite Constellations

Multiple nations are trying to develop their own satellite systems. In August, China launched a batch of 18 satellites as part of the Spacesail constellation which is expected to have surveillance capabilities.

Launched by state-controlled Shanghai Yuxin Satellite Technology Company, the Spacesail is projected to have a total of 14,000 satellites in its network.

Earlier in 2022, Chinese military researchers said Starlink posed “potential dangers and challenges” to the communist regime and called for developing countermeasures “to disable some Starlink satellites and to disrupt the constellation’s operational system.”

In November, SpaceSail signed an agreement with Brazil to provide satellite communication services in the country. This was the first overseas agreement the company signed. SpaceSail intends to start offering internet services globally from next year.

Taiwan is also seeking to set up its own satellite system. The country had initially sought to collaborate with SpaceX for the project.

After considering Musk’s Tesla investment in China, which presents a conflict of interest, as well as his decision to deny Ukraine the use of Starlink for a strike on Crimea, Taiwan chose to proceed with the British company OneWeb.

Starlink was involved in a legal dispute in Brazil. In September, the country’s telecommunications regulator Anatel threatened the company with the suspension of its operating license if the entity did not block access to social media platform X.

Starlink said its assets were frozen by authorities in Brazil and refused to shut down X as long as the freeze was in effect. It said the asset freeze was imposed without due process. The company has more than 250,000 users in the country. The Supreme Court later lifted the asset freeze and eventually allowed X to restart operations.

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