Ukraine may join Starlink's European competitor — the EU IRIS space program
Norway, Ukraine and the UK could join the EU's secure satellite communications network IRIS², which is the European alternative to Elon Musk's Starlink.
Norway, Ukraine and the UK could join the EU's secure satellite communications network IRIS², which is the European alternative to Elon Musk's Starlink.
This was reported to Euractiv by Andrius Kubilius, Commissioner for Defence and Space.
Norway is already in talks with the European Commission to join the satellite network program. Ukraine and the United Kingdom have not yet started this process.
The cost of the IRIS² space program is 10.6 billion euros. It is expected that by 2030 the network will consist of approximately 280 satellites.
“I wouldn’t be against it,” Kubilius said when asked if such non-EU countries could officially join the multi-billion-euro space program. The UK has significant experience in space, while Ukraine has significant potential, having served as a key space hub during the Soviet era, Kubilius said.
Iceland, which is also a country in the European Economic Area like Norway, said it had concluded negotiations with the Commission earlier this month on its participation in IRIS².
Kubilius spoke just a few weeks after the presentation of the draft EU Space Law, which was submitted by the Commission on June 25.
Although it will take years to finalize the legislation, its provisions could in the future prevent companies like Musk's SpaceX from providing their satellite services to EU consumers.
Recall that it recently became known about Musk's order to SpaceX engineers to disable the Starlink satellite internet to the Ukrainian military during a counteroffensive in the Kherson region in 2022.
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