Sept 10 (Reuters) – Aerospace group Thales Alenia Space has signed an agreement with satellite operator Eutelsat to supply government payloads for 330 of the European Union’s IRIS² low Earth orbit satellites, it said on Thursday.
The company, a joint venture between France’s Thales and Italy’s Leonardo, said the order represented a tranche worth around €500 million ($582 million) under a broader IRIS² contract that is expected to exceed €3 billion.
Thales Alenia Space will supply the technical equipment to be transported on Eutelsat satellites, known as payloads, which are intended to support a secure space-based 5G network, enabling in-orbit traffic routing, active interference management and secure end-to-end communications, it said.
IRIS² is the EU’s planned secure satellite communications constellation aimed at giving European governments and their armed forces a sovereign alternative to non-European systems, most notably Elon Musk’s SpaceX. However, its rollout is facing questions as Germany pursues a separate national military satellite network, prompting fears about fragmentation of European efforts and rising costs.
The first 66 satellites under the programme will be launched starting in 2029.
($1 = 0.8597 euros)
(Reporting by Florence Loève; Writing by Gianluca Lo Nostro; Editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)
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