The European Commission’s (EC’s) IRIS² initiative came into complete focus this past December. IRIS² is a bold step toward achieving secure, sovereign satellite communications for Europe. It is a plan for a constellation of 290 satellites — 18 in Middle Earth Orbit (MEO) and 264 in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) to provide secure government connectivity services to the European Union (EU) Member States, along with broadband connectivity. IRIS² is a public-private partnership funded by the EU, the private sector, and the European Space Agency (ESA).
The EC signed recently the contract for the constellation with the private sector companies making up the SpaceRise consortium and tasked with delivering the constellation – SES, Eutelsat, and Hispasat. This consortium will manage a 12-year contract and work with multiple European subcontractors, including Thales Alenia Space and Airbus Defence and Space. It’s an ambitious public/private partnership that Andrius Kubilius, EC commissioner for Defence and Space, called “a vision of a stronger, more connected, and more resilient Europe.”
IRIS² will be a vital asset in providing sovereign European space capabilities. However, the earliest the constellation could be operational is 2031. That is where Telesat Lightspeed, one of the world’s most innovative LEO satellite constellations, could play a role in complementing the IRIS² mission.
Telesat Lightspeed is expected to be in service by late 2027 globally, years before IRIS². It could offer an immediate and advanced solution that aligns with EC and ESA goals, providing critical capacity and connectivity for governments and enterprises across Europe and beyond. This earlier timeline ensures that EU partners can access secure, high-performance connectivity when it is most needed – provided that interoperability is built into the system.
An increased focus on cooperation and interoperability
NATO allies have been working to enhance space capabilities and coordination. The Combined Space Operations (CSpO) Initiative is designed to improve cooperation, resilience, training, and national and collective capabilities for joint military operations in space. CSpO is a ten-nation partnership comprising Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The Initiative works for transparency, confidence-building and verification measures, and norms of responsible behavior to ensure safety and security in space for all nations.
CSpO supports interoperability to help member nations meet the challenges of a competitive and contested space domain. A robust space architecture will be established to protect member operations and respond to attacks or changes in orbit.
Telesat Lightspeed is taking an open architecture approach regarding terminals and working with multiple leading manufacturers. This standards-based approach offers multi-orbit capabilities and ensures space and ground interoperability. A similar approach with IRIS² would provide the EU with a proliferated option that increases resiliency.
Telesat Lightspeed and IRIS² interoperability also gives EU countries access to a vast pool of additional connectivity. In addition to being available earlier, after IRIS² is operational, Telesat Lightspeed could serve in a complementary fashion to offer increased capacity in markets that experience contention in the IRIS² network. Through sophisticated software-defined digital payloads in space, the Telesat Lightspeed network can dynamically bring multi-Gbps connectivity into a single “hot spot” to eliminate network contention, for example, during a localized conflict in Europe.
Telesat offers service management options to meet multiple operations scenarios. Member countries may choose a highly flexible capacity pool that allows for operation as a virtual network operator (VNO). This provides the ability to activate, configure, and modify targeted service plans with total visibility into performance metrics. This granular functionality can be achieved using Telesat customer APIs to integrate with existing systems or via a user-friendly customer portal.
Alternatively, a customer may select individual subscription options with guaranteed performance to a single site. Telesat manages delivery of the agreed-upon connectivity service on your behalf for fast, easy, and cost-effective access to the Telesat Lightspeed network.
A next-generation LEO constellation
We’re building Telesat Lightspeed to deliver high-data rate enterprise-class communications. Telesat Lightspeed was designed for resilient, mission-critical enterprise services, supporting the telecom networks that form the technological backbone of our modern society. By being so resilient, the system will provide several capabilities governments require from their secure, dedicated military systems.
Each Telesat Lightspeed satellite has four 10 Gbps OISLs interconnecting the constellation with laser communications, forming a secure, global mesh Carrier Ethernet network in space. The satellites have onboard digital signal processing with satellite-to-satellite and satellite-to-ground data routing that supports traffic flows from any user terminal to and from any destination on Earth.
An EU customer can land their traffic in region using Telesat landing stations and points of presence. Or they could downlink data to their own Private Access Station (PAS) if desired, just as if using a sovereign system. Customer data never transits a public network, and the customer can retain total control of the data encryption and decryption process if desired.
Additionally, the Telesat Lightspeed network has security features that approach purpose-built military systems. Cybersecurity is built in from the ground up and intrinsic to every component, with a 24/7 Cybersecurity Operations Center monitoring the system. Focused satellite beams and frequency hopping insures communications are hard to intercept, decipher and jam. Specialized security features like terminal location obfuscation also improves the security posture for government services.
Collaboration in space is a global good
The potential of Telesat Lightspeed to support EU customers exemplifies how innovation combined with collaboration can drive multiple connectivity solutions. The advanced capabilities of Telesat Lightspeed—delivered years ahead—provide an immediate advantage, while its flexibility, capacity, and security would continue adding value after IRIS²’s full deployment. Together, these systems create a robust, redundant, and secure global network that would benefit all allied nations striving for resilient, secure, and nimble space connectivity.
