IDAHO FALLS, Idaho — The European Commission has reached an agreement with an industrial consortium to proceed with a secure connectivity constellation, increasing the number of satellites as well as its cost.

The European Commission announced Aug. 7 it completed negotiations with the SpaceRISE industrial consortium on the IRIS² constellation, a milestone known formally as Rendezvous 1. The agreement signed between the commission and the consortium will allow work to proceed on the constellation.

The European Commission selected the SpaceRISE consortium, led by satellite operators Eutelsat, Hispasat and SES, in December 2024 for a one-year design phase, followed by negotiations on the implementation agreement that was part of Rendezvous 1.

At that time, IRIS² principally included 18 satellites in medium Earth orbit and 264 satellites in high low Earth orbit at an altitude of about 1,200 kilometers. The system would also include 10 or more satellites in a lower orbit for incubating new technologies.

In the announcement, the European Commission said it was adding 66 satellites to that high-LEO shell. The MEO shell remains at 18 satellites, and the announcement did not mention the low-LEO shell, although Hispasat, in its own release, said it remained the lead company for that system.

The additional high-LEO satellites, the commission said, will provide improved defense, security and safety services. It estimated those additional satellites will increase capacity for secure government services by 60% within the European Union and 54% outside it.

“By accelerating the delivery of early defense and security services and reinforcing the IRIS² architecture, we will not only bring the network into operation ahead of schedule but also boost secure governmental capacity by more than 60% within the Union,” Andrius Kubilius, the EU commissioner for defense and space, said in a statement.

While he described this revised version of IRIS² as a “faster-to-market constellation,” the announcement stated that satellite launches will begin in 2029, the same date given when the commission selected the SpaceRISE consortium in December 2024.

The cost of IRIS² has also grown significantly. While the European Commission did not include a revised cost estimate in its announcement, Hispasat said that IRIS² would now cost 15.6 billion euros ($18 billion), with the SpaceRISE consortium providing 4 billion euros and the commission, along with the European Space Agency, providing the other 11.6 billion euros.

That new estimate is a 47% increase from the 10.6 billion euro estimate provided in December 2024 when the commission selected SpaceRISE. Earlier in planning for IRIS², the commission proposed that the constellation would cost just 6 billion euros.

The European Commission, in its statement, acknowledged that “an additional investment in the program budget” will be required for the constellation. That funding would come from the commission’s next multiannual financial framework, which runs from 2028 through 2034, as well as additional contributions from EU member states.

The Spanish government announced last month it would contribute 1.6 billion to 2 billion euros for IRIS² through a national military satellite system that could be integrated into the broader constellation. Poland also announced in July it would provide about $750 million for IRIS² by financing six MEO and six LEO satellites.