IRIS²: A New Frontier in The European Space Programme
On December 16th, the European Commission signed the concession contract for constructing the Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite (IRIS²). This space initiative involves the creation of a multi-orbital constellation of 290 satellites, leveraging the comparative advantages of satellites in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) and Low Earth Orbit (LEO) (European Commission, 2024a). This 12-year project embodies Europe’s strategic attempt to develop a viable alternative to Elon Musk’s Starlink (Volpicelli & Palasciano, 2024).