EU Commission invites tenders for new satellite constellation with military applications
The EU hopes for the constellation to achieve full operating capability for government services in 2027. (Photo: European Commission)
The private-public partnership will ensure common investment in the design, development, deployment and operation of government and commercial infrastructure.
IRIS² aims to provide EU member states with guaranteed access to secure, sovereign, and global connectivity services to protect critical infrastructure, surveillance, and military applications, among other uses.
The communications will use advanced encryption technology, including quantum cryptography.
Related Articles
EU to supply Ukraine with one million artillery shells
The tender is the step towards implementing the constellation, which will benefit from an EU budget contribution of €2.4 billion ($2,5 billion).
The EU envisages full operating capability for governmental services in 2027.
The EU Commission said: ‘The current geopolitical context demonstrates how crucial space-based sovereign and secure communication services are in times of crises.
‘This ambition can only be achieved by combining the driving force of the public sector and the know-how of the private sector.’
More from Digital Battlespace
-
US Marine Corps enhances tactical comms with L3Harris radio contracts
The US Marine Corps is acquiring further L3Harris Falcon IV tactical radios under two new contracts.
-
Northrop Grumman delivers key elements for Poland's new air defence system
Northrop Grumman has begun delivering Integrated Battle Command System relay units under Poland's Wisla medium-range air defence programme.
-
SOF Week 2023: How Collaborative Autonomy can revolutionise multi-domain missions
USSOCOM is betting on meshed networking technology to enable a single operator to control multiple swarming uncrewed systems across air, land and sea.
-
SOF Week 2023: USSOCOM to observe high throughput connectivity at sea demonstration
The demo will showcase a layered and integrated communications network featuring mobile ad hoc network, tropospheric scatter, and satellite connectivity.
-
Elettronica puts the spotlight on EW at IMDEX
At IMDEX Asia 2023 in Singapore, Italy’s Elettronica spotlighted its new-generation distributed electronic warfare (EW) solutions.