Ukraine, Britain, and Norway may join the EU’s IRIS² space program, which is a competitor to Starlink

Ukraine, Britain, and Norway may join the EU’s IRIS² space program, which is a competitor to Starlink

Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and Norway may join the EU’s IRIS² space program, a secure satellite communications project that is set to become the European alternative to Elon Musk’s Starlink.

This was announced by European Commissioner for Defense and Space Andrius Kubilius in an interview with Euractiv.

• The IRIS² (Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite) program is estimated at €10.6 billion and involves the launch of about 280 satellites by the 2030s.

• Norway is currently negotiating its accession, while Iceland completed its negotiations in early July.

• Ukraine, which actively uses Starlink for military communications during its confrontation with Russian invaders, has not yet begun official negotiations. But, according to Kubilius, the country has “significant potential” in the space sector, given its historical role in the Soviet space program.

Kubilius also added that the new EU Space Act, presented in June, aims to regulate third-party companies’ access to the EU market — in particular, the influence of players such as SpaceX.