IRIS²: Strategic Investment or Political Gamble?
Plus: more European funding and key milestones, (another?) heavy rocket tender call and top jobs of the week!
Welcome to Aerospace Insider 🚀
In this week’s issue, we’re diving into the latest and greatest from Europe’s booming space sector. Big things are happening!
Today’s summary:
🚀 Aerospace News: new funding this week along with major milestones across several European companies.
💼 Top Space Jobs: plenty of job opportunities await, don’t miss them!
🔍 Deep Dive: Europe’s answer to Starlink takes a step forward.
Aerospace Weekly Roundup
Catch the latest European space industry highlights you can't afford to miss!
💸 ION-X raises €13M to advance space propulsion
ION-X secured €13M Series A investment to advance the development of its ion thrusters for small satellites. With this funding, they aim to produce up to 200 thrusters annually by 2028, focusing on innovation and meeting increasing demand in the growing satellite market.
✈️ POLARIS Spaceplanes crosses the 100-flight mark
In 2024, POLARIS Spaceplanes surpassed 121 flights, including the first in-air firing of a linear aerospike engine with MIRA II, along with formation flight experiments supporting aerial refueling technologies for unmanned spaceplanes and hypersonic aircraft. A new vehicle project is also in development, ensuring continued innovation and record-breaking achievements.
🛰 Fleet Space secures $150M at $800M+ valuation
Fleet Space Technologies has raised $150M in a Series D round. The funding will expand its ExoSphere platform, which uses advanced algorithms to accelerate critical mineral discovery for Earth’s clean energy future. This marks a major step in supporting global net-zero goals through sustainable innovation.
🌍 Virgin Galactic explores suborbital spaceflights from Italy
Virgin Galactic has signed an agreement with Italy's civil aviation authority (ENAC) to study operating its Delta-class suborbital spaceplanes from Grottaglie Airport, designated as a potential spaceport. The study will assess technical, operational, and regulatory requirements by 2025, aiming to establish its first spaceport outside the U.S. while benefiting the local community.
🔥 HyPrSpace advances hybrid engine design
French startup HyPrSpace has completed preliminary design reviews for its Baguette One suborbital and Orbital Baguette One rockets, moving into the Critical Design phase. Backed by €35M from the PADA1 project, the company is targeting 2026 for its first suborbital launch, as reported by European Spaceflight.
🚀 ESA publishes (again) tender for a reusable heavy lift rocket
ESA has relaunched a call to study a heavy lift reusable rocket capable of delivering 60t to LEO. This comes after two previous versions were published and removed on the same day. ESA aims to develop a roadmap addressing technical, financial, and planning requirements, potentially including human-rating for crewed missions. Read more here.
🛰 Europe signs contracts for IRIS² constellation
Read more about it below…
Space Jobs Spotlight 🔍
Curated roles to accelerate your career in Europe’s thriving space sector.
🚀 Internships & Graduates
Spectrum Intern — Intelsat (London 🇬🇧)
Upper stage Design Engineer Intern — Arianespace (Bremen 🇩🇪)
CAD Design Intern — RFA (Augsburg 🇩🇪)
Project Management Placement — Airbus (Stevenage 🇬🇧)
💼 Space Jobs (ranked by experience)
Bid Manager — SATLANTIS (Bilbao 🇪🇸)
Propulsion Test Engineer — Isar Aerospace (Ottobrunn 🇩🇪)
System Engineer — NanoAvionics (Vilnius 🇱🇹)
Business Controller — PLD Space (Elche 🇪🇸)
GNC Engineer — Isar Aerospace (Ottobrunn 🇩🇪)
Spacecraft Systems Engineer — Astroscale (Toulouse 🇫🇷)
Senior Systems Engineer — Hispasat (Ruppichteroth 🇩🇪)
Product Assurance Engineer — PLD Space (Elche 🇪🇸)
Thermal Engineer — SES (Betzdorf 🇱🇺)
Chief of Staff — PAVE Space (Renens 🇨🇭)
🔥 Special Opportunities
Apply to become a Prospero Space Fellow
Like these jobs or think something is missing? Hit ‘reply’ and let me know!
IRIS²: Strategic investment or political gamble?
On December 16, the European Commission and the European Space Agency signed the contracts with the industrial consortium for Europe’s new megaconstellation project: Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite, better known as IRIS².
Aimed at providing global broadband and secure satellite services, particularly for underserved regions across Europe and defence sectors, IRIS² is seen as a crucial project for Europe’s digital sovereignty, at least by some. However, the initiative faces public scrutiny with regards to competition, timeliness, and economic sustainability. Here’s a great example.
A Key Move for European Space Strategy
The IRIS² project will deploy approximately 300 satellites across LEO and MEO to provide high-speed internet to Europe. IRIS² also promises to strengthen Europe’s security by offering dual-use services for both civilian and government purposes, addressing growing concerns over reliance on external satellite providers. All good in paper so far.
Can IRIS² Compete in a Crowded Market?
It’s no surprise that IRIS² is entering a highly competitive market. A market clearly dominated by SpaceX’s Starlink, which already provides internet services in over 113 countries. Then there’s OneWeb, recently acquired by Eutelsat, with 654 operational satellites in orbit. And Amazon’s Kuiper project, which has two test satellites in orbit, appears technologically advanced. Telesat Lightspeed recently completed the Preliminary Design Review, demonstrating the projects maturity. Rivada Space Networks continues development despite facing some struggles. And then there’s Constellation Technologies, with plans to develop a satellite megaconstellation in very low earth orbit and which recently received $10M in seed funding. Not much, but still shows that it convinced some investors.
The list could go on but the point is clear: it will be extremely difficult for IRIS² to compete in such a crowded market, especially being a late entrant. Does the focus on providing services to European institutions justify the €10.6B price tag? For consumers there seems to be better alternatives…
Challenges in Timeliness and Execution (and 💶)
The timeline for IRIS² is another major concern. With the contract awarded at the end of 2024, satellites are expected to launch in 2029 and 2030. This timeline is first ambitious and still places the project significantly behind already mentioned rivals. Additionally, IRIS²’s (look how ugly that looks with the apostrophe, sorry for this comment) complex consortium, involving multiple contractors (SES, Eutelsat, Hispasat leading it) could slow progress and lead to delays. But maybe, only maybe.
“We have no time to lose. We are already late, my friends.” — Timo Pesonen
Lastly, the economic sustainability of IRIS² remains uncertain. The challenge not only lies with the development of the satellites or even the launches, but also, and more importantly, due to the complexities involved, with the ground stations and user terminals development.
Satellite constellations are expensive to deploy and maintain, and IRIS² will need to generate significant revenue to cover these costs. Government contracts may provide some financial security, but the commercial market for satellite internet is already crowded. With Starlink leading the way, IRIS² must offer a compelling value proposition to attract customers.
Looking Ahead
On a not-so-negative side, the IRIS² constellation is a significant step for Europe’s space ambitions. It’s good Europe has realised the importance of satellite broadband communications, of regaining its autonomy and owning its technology. Let’s go Europe!)
But its success is far from guaranteed. The project faces tough competition from established players, and its ability to deliver on time and within budget remains in question. The coming years will be critical in determining whether IRIS² can find a place in the global satellite communications market or if it will struggle to keep up with its faster-moving rivals…
I’ve tried my best to not mention the issue of the name but I can’t help it. IRIS² is just a bad name. To write this article, I’ve had to copy and paste the name each time as there’s no easy way of typing the exponent 2. It might seem like a silly point but, as I’ve mentioned in the past, this already shows that Europe is missing the point. Imagine if Apple named its products the same way… Would it be a trillion dollar company today?
I’ll leave you with this comment from the IRIS² presentation, as reported here:
“Let’s agree now: no delays, no requests for extra funding,” — Timo Pesonen
Haha. Good luck.
In other news
Panama and Austria sign Artemis accords. Read more.
Rivada Space still confident about its constellation plans. Read more.
China kicks off megaconstellation plans. Read more.
Thanks for reading Aerospace Insider.
Remember to share this newsletter with anyone who might find it interesting. Don’t forget to apply to the jobs here and get in touch if you need anything or have any suggestions! I’m here to provide the best newsletter for you.
And connect with me on LinkedIn here.
To your success,
Jaime
like your writing style, very informative and interesting!