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Ukraine, UK, and Norway Poised to Join EU’s $12B IRIS² Satellite Program Aimed at Reducing Reliance on Starlink
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![Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko]( "Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko")
Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and Norway may soon gain access to IRIS², the European Union’s upcoming secure satellite communications system designed to rival SpaceX’s Starlink.
EU Commissioner for Defense and Space Andrius Kubilius confirmed the possibility of third-country participation in the $12 billion program, speaking to Euractiv on July 28.
“I would not be opposed,” Kubilius said when asked about including non-EU countries. He noted that the United Kingdom has a well-established track record in space technologies, while Ukraine offers considerable potential, having been a major space hub during the Soviet era.
Earlier this month, Norway, alongside Iceland, has already finalized the firts step to join IRIS².
According to Euroactiv, the IRIS² constellation is slated for deployment in the 2030s, with around 280 satellites providing secure, high-reliability communications for governmental, defense, and commercial use across participating states.
The prospect of Ukraine, the UK, and Norway joining the EU’s IRIS² satellite program comes at a time when concerns are mounting over the permanent reliability of existing systems like Starlin. On July 24, a rare global outage of SpaceX’s network disrupted critical military communications in Ukraine, including those supporting its extensive frontline drone operations.
SpaceX’s Vice President of Starlink Engineering, Michael Nicolls, confirmed the incident on X, attributing the approximately 2.5-hour disruption to a failure in internal software services. Although the network has since recovered, the event highlighted the strategic importance of developing alternative and resilient satellite communication capabilities—something IRIS² aims to provide.
Earlier, it was reported that Russia has officially notified international regulators that it will treat European satellites supporting Ukraine’s military efforts as “legitimate targets,” further intensifying its campaign of GPS and satellite signal interference.
