Thales Alenia Space has been onboard the IRIS² project from the very beginning of the European Commission’s project inception. IRIS² is a future secured European space-based infrastructure relying on a constellation of 282 satellites: 18 in Medium Earth Orbit and 264 in Low Earth Orbit. This program is crucial for Europe's space sovereignty in secure telecommunications enabling to secure governmental, institutional, economical players, and citizen data.

In the first quarter of 2025, an activation phase contract was awarded by the SpaceRISE consortium of telecommunications operators (SES, Eutelsat, and Hispasat) to Thales Alenia Space in order to enable the initial development and de-risking of new high-performance and enabling solutions for IRIS², including 5G system, regenerative payload, active antennas, and an on-board processor.

More recently, our company has been contracted for the Initial Phase Contract to engineer the IRIS² system and secured payload solutions.

IRIS² will be the ultimate in the field of telecommunications constellations. Our company will leverage its unique legacy in constellations and propose state-of-the-art technologies to address this program, which is strategic for Europe to strengthen its sovereignty.

Stay tuned as Thales Alenia Space is currently complementing a project dream team to tackle the IRIS² ambitions and challenges, looking for talents to join for this enthusiastic journey!