#Iris2: the architecture of the #European Internet constellation soon to be revealed. The European Commission is due to receive their proposal by February 14.
IRIS2 is set to become #Europe’s third satellite component, after the #Galileo (geopositioning) and #Copernicus (Earth observation) systems. Its main mission will be to guarantee the security of government telecommunications and public services while providing global Internet coverage.
The panelists remained tightlipped about the details of their proposal, which would operate as a public-private partnership (PPP). Nevertheless, some information is beginning to emerge. The architecture chosen for Iris2 (Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite) could consist of at least two hundred satellites distributed over low (LEO), medium (MEO) and geostationary (GEO) orbits, whereas Starlink currently operates solely in low earth orbit.