EU IRIS satellite constellation to reach full capacity by 2030

The European Union has formally initiated the development of IRIS, an independent satellite communications system designed as a strategic alternative to commercial networks such as Starlink. The European Commission and the SpaceRISE consortium have signed final documents, transitioning the project from the design phase to the production and deployment of the space segment. Orbital Architecture and Configuration During the final planning stage, engineers expanded the scale of the constellation. The network will now comprise 348 satellites—an increase of 66 units over original estimates. To ensure minimum signal latency, 330 satellites will be positioned in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), while an additional 18 will be deployed to Medium Earth Orbit (MEO). Maksim Petrov, Information Security Engineer: "Creating a distributed constellation across different orbits allows for a significant increase in data transmission reliability. If part of the system fails, the load is redistributed, which is critical for government structures."