Belgian satellite manufacturer Aerospacelab awarded €2.4 billion IRIS² satellite contract

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 10, Belgian satellite manufacturer Aerospacelab was awarded a contract worth €2.4 billion to design, manufacture, and deliver 264 fully integrated low Earth orbit satellites for the EU's IRIS² secure satellite communications system. The 264 satellites account for approximately 76% of the 348 satellites currently planned for the IRIS² main constellation, making it the largest single satellite manufacturing share disclosed for the project to date.

Aerospacelab will execute the contract through the SpaceRISE consortium, composed of Eutelsat, SES, and Hispasat. SpaceRISE is responsible for developing and operating the IRIS² system under the concession arrangement granted by the EU, while the European Commission is the project owner and managing authority, and the European Space Agency serves as the system design authority.

The European Commission and SpaceRISE completed a new round of implementation negotiations and signed the implementation agreement on August 6, 2026, increasing the IRIS² main constellation to 348 satellites, including 66 additional low Earth orbit satellites. Under the current arrangement, the project's first satellites are scheduled to begin launching in 2029, with communications services to be provided around 2030.

The 264 satellites undertaken by Aerospacelab this time are part of the IRIS² low Earth orbit segment. The company had previously initiated supply chain procurement work for the IRIS² high and low orbit segments, including RFIs and subsequent competitive tenders for satellite flight subsystems. Its public procurement documents show that the IRIS² high and low orbit layers were originally planned to comprise approximately 270 satellites, operating in the low Earth orbit regime, with the relevant satellites to be deployed by 2030.

The contract for the 264 satellites corresponds to an average value of approximately €9.1 million per satellite. Aerospacelab will be responsible for the design, manufacture, and delivery of complete satellites, rather than supplying only a single platform or components. The company is currently building a Megafactory in Belgium for large-scale satellite manufacturing, with a designed annual production capacity of up to 500 satellites, planned to begin production in 2026 and reach full capacity in 2027.

IRIS² is being built under a public-private partnership model. SpaceRISE signed a 12-year project agreement with the European Commission and the European Space Agency in December 2024, when the project financing structure included €6.5 billion in public funding and more than €4 billion in private funding. The initial plan called for deploying 290 new low Earth orbit and medium Earth orbit satellites, and the August 2026 implementation agreement subsequently further expanded the constellation size.