Europe expands its Starlink rival to 348 satellites as IRIS² moves into implementation — €15.6 billion network will boost EU government capacity by 60%, with launches starting in 2029
- ID
- 12627
- Status
- summarized
- Published
- 10 Aug 2026, 5:30 PM
- Fetched
- 10 Aug 2026, 7:11 PM
- Provider
- Tom's Hardware
- Category
- technology
- Original URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/space/europe-expands-its-starlink-rival-to-348-satellites-as-iris2-moves-into-implementation-eur15-6-billion-network-will-boost-eu-government-capacity-by-60-percent-with-launches-starting-in-2029
- Source URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/feeds/all
Summary
- Score
- 2.0
- Created
- 10 Aug 2026, 7:14 PM
- Tags
- Audience
- developerssaas_founders
What happened
The EU's IRIS² satellite constellation has been expanded to 348 satellites with a €15.6 billion budget, moving into implementation phase. The network aims to boost EU government communications capacity by 60%, with launches beginning in 2029.
Why it matters
This is an EU government infrastructure project with no direct impact on Malaysian or SEA builders' tooling, APIs, or platforms. The only tangential relevance is that a competing satellite network to Starlink could eventually affect regional connectivity pricing or availability, but nothing here requires any action from this audience today.
Discussion angle
Whether a multipolar satellite landscape (Starlink vs. EU IRIS² vs. China's Guowang) could eventually lower connectivity costs for rural Malaysian deployments — but this is speculative and far out (2029+).