BRUSSELS — Budgets are tight but Europe has to press ahead with building an encrypted communication satellite system, Director General of the European Space Agency Josef Aschbacher told POLITICO.
Plans for the France-backed IRIS2 program have come under fire from the German government in recent weeks due to cost worries. Industry experts also say the project is too expensive and risks being outdated compared to SpaceX’s Starlink constellation which beams internet services down to Earth.
The plan is backed by the European Commission, and Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton, and Aschbacher is behind Brussels in its efforts to get the system up and running.
“It’s crystal clear that IRIS2 is a must for Europe, and we have to have a secure connectivity program. There is no question about that,” said the ESA boss.
The SpaceRise consortium, made up of major aerospace companies such as Airbus and Thales Alenia Space along with telecommunication firms and satellite operators, is currently in talks with the Commission’s procurement team on the terms of a contract to build the project.
IRIS2 has an estimated cost of anywhere between €6 billion and €12 billion, with talks ongoing over the final program blueprint with SpaceRise. Paris-based ESA is chipping in €600 million, on top of €2.4 billion from the EU with industry expected to shoulder much of the rest.
Aschbacher was speaking ahead of this week’s rare crossover event during which ministers from the EU as well as the U.K., Norway and Switzerland, which are also ESA members, convene in Brussels to calibrate their ambition for rockets, satellites and space spending.
The goal is to ramp up the Continent’s space ambitions, he said.
“You see an enormous increase of public funding in in some countries outside Europe,” Aschbacher said, pointing to “enormous pressure” on local contractors such as Airbus and Thales thanks to ambitious programs in countries like the United States and China, as well as Saudi Arabia and Japan.
“The [satellite communications] industry currently is under enormous pressure, the amount of geostationary satellites has been halved,” said Aschbacher, referring to the declining orders for larger satellites that operate at a fixed point in space from the `Earth.
Aerospace leader Airbus recently reported €300 million in losses at its space business, while Thales has slashed staff at its rocket and satellite arm.
IRIS2 is bleeding into broader discussions over how to finance the bloc’s space industry, which trails the U.S. and faces competition as both China and India ramp up investment.
In late 2025, Aschbacher will convene ministers from ESA’s 22 member states for a budget summit to set out funding plans running to 2028. In 2022, the agency’s budget hit a record €16.9 billion, with Germany and France leading the spending on everything from Earth observation satellites to research missions.
It’s not a given that the cash commitment will be increased further next year.
“The budget situation in Germany and France is extremely, extremely tight,” said Aschbacher. “The boundary conditions are not easy ones.”
The post ‘Crystal clear’ that Europe needs a Starlink-like secure satellite program, says space boss appeared first on Politico.
