Europe’s Starlink competitor is go

The EU has signed a deal for its IRIS² constellation of 290 connection satellites that volition run successful some mean and low-earth orbit. The Starlink rival volition supply unafraid connectivity to governmental users arsenic good arsenic backstage companies and European citizens, and bring high-speed net to dead-zones. The public-private woody valued astatine €10.6 cardinal (about $11 billion), according to The Financial Times, is expected to travel online by 2030. 

SpaceRISE — a consortium led by European outer web operators SES, Eutelsat, and Hispasat, and supported by European satcom subcontractors similar Airbus and Deutsche Telekom — has been fixed a 12-year concession declaration to develop, deploy, and run the IRIS² constellation. IRIS² is an acronym for Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite.

“This cutting-edge constellation volition support our captious infrastructures, link our astir distant areas and summation Europe’s strategical autonomy. By partnering with the SpaceRISE consortium, we are demonstrating the powerfulness of public-private collaboration to thrust innovation and present tangible benefits to each Europeans,” said Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy.

In September, FCC seat Jessica Rosenworcel said she wanted to spot much competition to Elon Musk’s Starlink, which has already launched immoderate 7,000 satellites since 2018.