SpaceRISE is a consortium dedicated to fostering a resilient, interconnected, and secure Europe through space innovation. It is comprised of key European space and telecom companies including Airbus Defence and Space, Deutsche Telekom, Eutelsat, Hisdesat, Hispasat, OHB, Orange, SES, Telespazio, Thales Alenia Space, and Thales. SpaceRISE was selected by the European Commission to build and operate the IRIS² multi-orbit satellite constellation, a project backed by public and private funds that will provide secure and reliable high-performance communication solutions to the EU. Associated keywords: satellite constellation, secure communications, IRIS², European Space Agency (ESA).
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The SpaceRISE consortium comprises European satellite operators Eutelsat, SES, and Hispasat.
The SpaceRISE consortium has initiated the procurement phase for the constellation hardware.
The European Commission awarded the contract to build the IRIS2 satellite communications constellation to the SpaceRISE consortium in October 2024.
The European Commission signed a contract in December 2024 with the SpaceRISE consortium for a 290-satellite multi-orbital constellation.
On January 5, 2026, the SpaceRISE consortium, comprising Eutelsat, SES, and Hispasat, advanced Europe’s IRIS² program into its procurement phase.
The SpaceRISE consortium, led by SES, Eutelsat, and Hispasat, transitioned the European Union’s IRIS² program into its active industrial procurement phase on December 28, 2025.
The SpaceRISE consortium has begun preparing Request for Proposal (RFP) documentation for satellite hardware and launch services.
A 12-year concession contract between the European Commission and SpaceRISE was signed on December 16, 2024, allocating approximately €10.6 billion for the development and operation of the IRIS² program.
The SpaceRISE consortium, comprised of SES, Eutelsat, and Hispasat, confirmed that the IRIS² program has moved into the active procurement phase as of December 25, 2025.
Antonio Abad participated in the SpaceRise consortium for the development of the European IRIS2 constellation.
Laurent Jaffart encouraged UK participation in the EU’s IRIS2 super-constellation being assembled by the SpaceRISE consortium.
The SpaceRise consortium is leading Europe’s IRIS² constellation.
SpaceRise plans to procure the ground segment through four lots: EU communication gateways, a cloud-native mission control center, a service lot to manage service provision, and a control lot that includes the satellite constellation control center (S3C), overseas TT&C antennas, and the data backbone.
The SpaceRise consortium seeks wide participation from the European industry for the IRIS² project.
The SpaceRise consortium is led by Eutelsat, Hispasat, and SES.
The contractor in charge of the control lot will be overall responsible for the successful integration of the ground segment toward SpaceRise.
In December 2024, Brussels awarded a 10.6 billion euro contract to the SpaceRISE consortium, led by SES, Eutelsat, and Hispasat, to build an ambitious satellite constellation.
The SpaceRISE consortium is led by SES, Eutelsat, and Hispasat.
In December 2024, the European Commission awarded a €10.6 billion contract to the SpaceRISE consortium to build a 290-satellite primary constellation.
SpaceRISE, the consortium comprising Eutelsat, Hispasat and SES, signed an agreement with the European Commission and the European Space Agency to design, deliver and operate the IRIS² infrastructure for a period of 12 years.