Spain commits up to $2.3 billion for national military communications for IRIS²

A rendering of Europe's proposed multi-orbit broadband constellation.

WARSAW, Poland — The Spanish government announced it will allocate between 1.6 billion and 2 billion euros ($1.8 to $2.3 billion) to develop a national military satellite communications constellation that could be integrated into the planned IRIS² multi-orbit satellite internet constellation.

The project was presented during the July 29 meeting of Spain’s National Committee for Technological Security and Sovereignty, a government body, during which the Ministry of Defense discussed the addition of 15 new special modernization programs (SMPs) planned for 2026 and the National LEO Capability program planned for 2027.

The funding for the “Multi-Orbit SATCOM SMP” will be allocated to “the development of the space segment, the ground-based control and management segment, and the operation of the system throughout its life cycle,” the ministry said in a document.

Spanish officials did immediately release the number of satellites in the constellation.