The European Union has activated its first independent satellite communications service, marking a significant step in Brussels' campaign to reduce dependence on American space infrastructure as geopolitical tensions reshape the global technology landscape.
IRIS² - Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite - went operational this week, providing European governments and militaries with secure communications independent of US systems like Starlink or traditional satellite providers.
Brussels decides more than you think - and now Brussels decides who can listen to its communications.
The €6 billion program represents the EU's answer to a fundamental strategic vulnerability: Europe's militaries, intelligence services, and critical infrastructure rely almost entirely on American or Chinese satellite systems for secure communications. When Elon Musk can unilaterally decide whether Ukraine gets Starlink coverage near Crimea, European defense planners pay attention.
"IRIS² ensures that Europe maintains autonomous, secure connectivity for governmental and defense applications," a European Commission statement explained. The system will provide encrypted communications for military operations, border surveillance, and critical infrastructure protection across all 27 member states.
The project forms part of Brussels' broader autonomie stratégique push - that recurring French phrase meaning "we'd prefer not to depend on Washington for everything, merci." Alongside independent satellite navigation (Galileo) and the forthcoming secure cloud infrastructure, IRIS² builds a parallel European technology stack.
The timing is pointed. With Trump administration officials openly questioning American commitments to NATO allies and Musk's Starlink wielding quasi-governmental power over wartime communications, European governments concluded that relying on American benevolence for critical security infrastructure was imprudent.
IRIS² will eventually comprise a constellation of satellites providing both governmental secure communications and commercial broadband services. The dual-use model - military backbone with civilian revenue - mirrors how GPS evolved from Pentagon navigation to commercial ubiquity. Brussels hopes European firms can capture some of the satellite internet market that Starlink currently dominates.
Critics note that €6 billion buys far fewer satellites than Musk launches in a typical month, and that European aerospace moves at committee speed while Silicon Valley moves at venture capital velocity. Germany's defense ministry has already hedged by signing separate Starlink contracts, reflecting Berlin's skepticism about EU-scale technology projects.
But the strategic logic is sound. Europe's combined GDP exceeds America's; its defense spending approaches €300 billion annually; it possesses world-class aerospace firms. The missing ingredient was political will to fund independent infrastructure rather than free-ride on American systems.
IRIS² signals that calculation is changing. When France plans military operations in the Sahel, Paris would prefer not asking Elon Musk's permission to communicate with its troops. When Poland monitors its border with Belarus, Warsaw wants satellites answerable to Brussels, not Washington.
Brussels decides more than you think - and increasingly, Brussels decides to stop asking Washington whether it's allowed to be a serious power. IRIS² won't match Starlink's scale for years. But it provides something more valuable than satellites: the institutional infrastructure and technical expertise to build European strategic autonomy one orbital launch at a time.
