Poland joined the IRIS² European space programme, on Tuesday 21 July, with additional funding of €656 million from the ‘Recovery and Resilience Facility’.
“Poland is investing €656 million in its own secure satellite connectivity system (under IRIS²), in order to ensure security from space. Beyond this investment, Poland is paving the way for a new European approach: the addition of a Polish module to a European satellite constellation”, highlighted the European Commissioner for Defence and Space, Andrius Kubilius.
“Investment in secure communications is an absolute priority”, explained the Polish Interior Minister, Marcin Kierwiński, adding that his country was joining the group of leading players in the field of information security within the European Union, alongside Germany, France, Spain and Luxembourg.
This modular implementation, under IRIS², strengthens communications sovereignty and offers tailor-made solutions, at the right time and in the right place, the Commissioner stated.
Mr Kubilius recalled that the deployment of IRIS² would be accelerated in order to allow initial operations to start by 2029. “And in 2031-2032, the project will be completed and Poland will be fully independent in communications”, Mr Kierwiński added.
Moreover, on 17 July, during the Franco-German Ministerial Council, the two countries recognised the crucial role played by IRIS² in setting up a resilient, integrated and robust European space infrastructure.
They agreed on the following principles for IRIS²: the timely provision of services and consideration of use cases (bandwidth, latency, security and quality of service), in particular the identification of the various user groups with differing requirements. A commercial approach to stimulate private investment and competition, and the central role of public-private partnerships in mobilising financial capacity and innovation for the public sector, while keeping markets open to commercial players, were also highlighted. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)