Daily news

Thales Alenia Space to provide digital and secure payloads for 330 IRIS² telecommunications satellites in Low Earth Orbit

September 10th, 2026

Thales Alenia Space, the joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), announces today it has signed a Letter of Agreement with Eutelsat to provide the governmental payloads dedicated to the 330 IRIS2 telecommunications satellites in Low Earth Orbit (66 Ka-only satellites and 264 dual Ku/Ka satellites).

This order represents a tranche of approximately 500 million euros out of a global IRIS² contract size for Thales Alenia Space which is set to exceed 3 billion euros overall.

About IRIS², the EU Secure Connectivity Programme:

The future IRIS2 (Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite) constellation will be the new standard bearer for Europe’s autonomous and sovereign space capability.

This system will comprise, to date, a total of 348 satellites, including 330 in Low Earth Orbit (1,200 km), of which 66 Ka-only satellites and 264 dual Ka/Ku satellites, and 18 in Medium Earth Orbit (8,000 km). The satellites will be communicating with each other via optical inter-satellite links and using a multi-orbit approach.

IRIS2 is set to provide secure government communication services for civil protection and emergency management agencies, security and defense communications, and commercial B2B services.

Beyond connectivity, IRIS² will be the backbone of other space-based Earth-observation and navigation infrastructures in Europe and will serve as a data transmission relay.

This dual-use system features groundbreaking technology, offering total control over data and an unprecedented level of security to address today’s cybersecurity challenges. Offering native 5G capability, IRIS2 will employ payloads with active antennas to ensure precise pointing and maximum signal power over specific regions of interest.