IRIS²
The IRIS2 (Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite) constellation is the European Union’s answer to pressing challenges ahead, offering enhanced communication capacities to governmental users, businesses, while ensuring high-speed internet broadband to cope with connectivity dead zones. The need for a secure and resilient global connectivity increases with the digitisation of the economy and society, and the increasing geopolitical and cybersecurity threats.
This multi-orbital constellation will combine the benefits offered by Low Earth (LEO), Geostationary (GEO), and Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellites. It is set to provide secure communication services to the EU and its Member States as well as broadband connectivity for European citizens, private companies and governmental authorities. IRIS2e will put an end to dead zones in Europe as well as the whole of Africa using the constellation's North-South orbits through a resilient and ultra-secure space and ground-based system.
The system will support a large variety of governmental applications, mainly in the domains of surveillance (e.g. border surveillance), crisis management (e.g. humanitarian aid) and connection and protection of key infrastructures (e.g. secure communications for EU embassies).
The system will facilitate a wide array of mass-market applications, including mobile and fixed broadband satellite access, satellite trunking for B2B services, and satellite access for transportation networks. It will bolster connectivity through reinforced networks by satellite, enabling satellite broadband and cloud-based services to thrive.
Relying on quantum cryptography through the European Quantum Communication Infrastructure (EuroQCI), and enhanced cybersecurity through a secure-by-design approach for the infrastructure, the system will bring an unprecedented security level to its users.
EUSPA is already actively involved in building secure satellite communication infrastructure for Europe through the coordination of the first phase of GOVSATCOM on which IRIS2 will be based.