spacetoday.net: European coalition to bid on satellite constellation

Posted: Sat, May 6, 2023, 9:46 AM ET (1346 GMT)
A coalition of Europe's largest space companies are planning to bid on a European Union satellite constellation. The "open consortium" features satellite operators Eutelsat, SES and Hispasat along with satellite manufacturers Airbus Defence and Space and Thales Alenia Space, among others. They will bid on the Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite (IRIS2) multi-orbit broadband constellation being developed by the European Commission using a mix of public and private funding. The companies leading the consortium were part of an earlier study group the European Commission chose in 2020 to explore the feasibility of a sovereign constellation, which also included launch services provider Arianespace.