With a total investment of €2.4 billion, the European quantum satellite network will start operating in 2024
After Galileo for navigation and Copernicus for observation, the EU has announced a third satellite constellation programme - IRIS² (Resilient, Interconnected and Secure Infrastructure for Satellites) - with a total investment of €2.4 billion. a tripartite agreement was reached on 17 November between the European Commission, the European Parliament and the European Council.
The IRIS² Secure Connectivity Programme will operate from 2023 to 2027 to deploy a constellation of satellites in near-Earth orbit (LEO) that will include the latest quantum communication technologies for secure encryption in the European Quantum Communication Infrastructure (EuroQCI).
It is key to the region's sovereign, autonomous and secure connectivity infrastructure, says the European Commission. The network will ensure guaranteed access in an unrestricted manner, avoiding dependence on third countries and increasing the resilience of European value chains.
Agreement signing site
01European Sovereign Constellation
Thierry Breton, EU Commissioner for Defence, Digital, Space and Industrial Policy, unveiled the framework for IRIS².
IRIS² will be a sovereign constellation with very strict eligibility criteria and security requirements.
IRIS² will be a constellation focused on government services, including defence applications.
IRIS² will provide connectivity throughout Europe, particularly in areas where broadband internet is currently not available, and throughout Africa, via the constellation's north-south orbit.
IRIS² will be a "new space" constellation in the European style, i.e. combining the expertise of major European space manufacturers with the dynamism of European start-ups. As a result, 30% of the infrastructure will have to be built by start-ups.
IRIS² will be the most advanced constellation, allowing Europe to be a step ahead in, for example, quantum encryption. As such, it will be a vehicle for innovation.
IRIS² will eventually become a multi-orbital constellation capable of creating synergies with the existing Galileo and Copernicus constellations. The goal is to reduce the risk of space congestion.
After satellite positioning, Earth observation, we now have a secure European connectivity infrastructure," he said. iris is the goddess of Greek mythology, the messenger sent to humanity by the gods. iris² will provide secure European connectivity for all!"
The Quantum Satellite Network, which will start operations in 2024, will support EU embassies in a variety of government applications for border surveillance, crisis management and secure communications, but it will also support mass market applications including mobile and fixed broadband satellite access, satellite relay for B2B services, satellite access for transport, enhanced satellite and satellite broadband networks and cloud-based services.
Secure and efficient connectivity will play a key role in Europe's digital transformation and make us more competitive," said European Commission Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager. Through this programme, the EU will be at the forefront of secure satellite communications, just as Galileo satellite navigation and Copernicus Earth observation are today."
02Pre-mission: Eagle-1
As a pre-mission, a consortium of 20 European companies led by Luxembourg-based satellite company SES, with the support of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Commission, will design, develop, launch and operate the EAGLE-1 satellite end-to-end system for secure Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) to support the in-orbit validation and demonstration of next generation cyber security across Europe.
SES will work with European partners to build Europe's first sovereign end-to-end space-based QKD system, develop and operate dedicated LEO satellites and establish a state-of-the-art QKD operations centre in Luxembourg. eAGLE-1 will be launched in 2024, completing a three-year in-orbit mission supported by the European Commission, thus paving the way for an EU constellation for ultra-secure data transmission.
EAGLE-1 blueprint
In addition, Luxembourg-based cybersecurity infrastructure and engineering company RHEA System Luxembourg has entered into a strategic partnership with SpeQtral, a Singaporean company focused on quantum communications, to establish a quantum security link between Singapore and Europe using the SpeQtral quantum satellite to be launched in 2024, with the aim of developing and demonstrating international use cases for QKD in operational IT environments with international use cases for QKD.
Reference links：
[1]https://defence-industry-space.ec.europa.eu/eu-space-policy/eu-space-programme/iriss_en
[2]https://www.eenewseurope.com/en/europe-agrees-flagship-e2-4bn-quantum-satellite-programme/
[3]https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/bienvenue-%25C3%25A0-iris-la-nouvelle-infrastructure-de-et-s%25C3%25A9curis%25C3%25A9e-breton/
