Iceland and Norway have joined IRIS2, the EU’s space-based secure communications initiative, which seeks to offer an alternative to Elon Musk’s Starlink.
Norway and Iceland both signed a participation agreement in Brussels with EU Space Commissioner Andrius Kubilius.
Norway and Iceland are expected to contribute about €40 million and €3 million respectively into IRIS2 for 2026–2027, with future amounts to be negotiated after the finalisation of the EU’s 2028–2034 budget.
Covering connectivity dead zones in Europe and Africa
The IRIS2 (Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite) constellation will use a variety of Low Earth (LEO), Geostationary (GEO), and Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellites to bolster communication services for European citizens, private industry and govermental authorities, in competition with American companies such as Starlink that dominate the market.
The network will utilise over 250 satellites and revitalise connectivity dead zones across both Europe and Africa, via North-South orbits.
As well as boosting services for the public, IRIS2 will strengthen satellite communications in Europe across a variety of metrics:
For governments, the improved communications will support:
- Surveillance
- Crisis management (e.g. humanitarian aid)
- Secure communications for key infrastructures
For industry and business:
- Better mobile and fixed broadband satellite access
- Satellite trunking for B2B services
- Satellite access for transportation networks
- Increased support for cloud-based services
Cybersecurity will be ensured through a secure-by-design approach for the infrastructure and quantum cryptography through the European Quantum Communication Infrastructure (EuroQCI).
There are unanswered questions about how IRIS2 will interact with sovereign constellations
Iceland completed negotiations with the EU in July 2025, but had to wait for Norway to complete its own negotiations before proceeding.
Stefán Jóhannesson, Iceland’s ambassador to the EU, described IRIS² as being of “enormous importance”, as it will provide a back-up for the three internet submarine cables that Iceland currently depends on for connectivity.
EU Space Commissioner Andrius Kubilius also indicated last summer that he was in favour of Ukraine joining the initiative.
The EU’s goal is for IRIS2 to be fully operational by 2030 but there is some uncertainty after it was announced that the German military was building a national €10 billion constellation.
“Of course we need to look how we integrate new developments of sovereign constellations,” Kubilius said during a press conference following the signing.