On the 15th (Wednesday), the European Parliament approved the so-called "IRIS2" project, which will launch 170 orbital satellites by 2027 with a total investment of 3.15 billion euros.
IRIS2 is aimed to eliminate Internet blind spots through hundreds of satellite networks, ensuring confidential communications between European governments, intelligence agencies, security, It also intends to respond to Elon Musk's Starlinkjust likeintroducing of Galileo Project in response to U.S’ GPS.
The EU has proved that Starlink is an essential means of communication for future wars through the Ukrainian war. However, StarLink aims to have a total of 42,000 satellites in the long run,still not enough for the EU to compete with StarLink.
IRIS2 will cover Europe and Africa and provide high-speed Internet services.It will be used as a backup system to provide uninterrupted Internet services in the event of current Internet problems.
In this regard, Thierry Breton, an executive committee member, explained that various procurement projects will be launched to carry out the project.The first satellite will be launched in 2024, and the full service in 2027.
Incase of IRIS2-related procurement projects, very strict selection criteria will be imposed.30% of the projects must be participated by start-ups and SMEs.