25/04/2023 (Agence Europe) – On Tuesday 25 April, the European Commission launched a call for expressions of interest inviting Member States to host the ground infrastructure for the GovSatCom encrypted communication programme and the IRIS² constellation for the provision of services to government-authorised users. Member States wishing to provide hosting sites and associated hosting services for GovSatCom hubs or IRIS² control centres are therefore invited to submit proposals before 30 June 2023. A primary and a fallback site will be selected for GovSatCom and IRIS², with a planned handover of the sites to the Commission by the first quarter of 2024 and 2025 respectively. Hosting sites and associated services must be made available for an operational life of at least 25 years. (CG)