Aerospacelab Wins €2.4B Deal to Build 264 IRIS² Satellites

Walloon satellite manufacturer Aerospacelab has won a landmark €2.4 billion (about $2.8 billion) contract to build 264 low-Earth-orbit satellite platforms for the European Union’s IRIS² constellation, a European answer to Elon Musk’s Starlink. The deal, announced on 10 September 2026 during the international Space Summit in Paris, is described as the largest contract in Belgian space history and, according to the company, the largest ever awarded in European space history.

The award covers roughly three-quarters of IRIS²’s planned 348 satellites. VRT NWS reported that the 264 satellites will form the backbone of the network, which is designed to reduce Europe’s dependence on the American Starlink system. Reuters, via Channel NewsAsia, put the share at 76 per cent and calculated the deal at roughly €9.1 million per satellite.

A defining moment for Europe

In an official press release, Aerospacelab said it had been selected as a key prime contractor for the LEO segment of the European Commission’s IRIS² programme — formally the Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite. The company will design, produce and deliver the fully integrated satellites by 2030.

“The selection of Aerospacelab for IRIS² reflects a deliberate industrial choice, a defining moment for Europe as a whole,” said Benoît Deper, the company’s CEO. “Institutions are now also placing their trust in a new generation of space manufacturers: companies like Aerospacelab, built from the ground up to deliver satellite infrastructure at scale and speed.”

Mathieu Costes, chairman of the Aerospacelab board, called it a “landmark award” that “propels the company into a new NEO-prime leadership position.” The contract was secured following a competitive dialogue conducted with Eutelsat, the LEO-segment lead within the SpaceRISE consortium.

From startup to industrial force

Founded in 2018, Aerospacelab has grown from a small startup into a vertically integrated manufacturer headquartered in Mont-Saint-Guibert, Walloon Brabant. It builds nearly all satellite components in-house — a strategy that Belgian space engineer Stijn Ilsen credited with securing the deal.

“This is absolutely good news for the Belgian space sector,” Ilsen told VRT NWS. “Aerospacelab is a new player that has invested very hard in vertical integration. They make almost everything themselves, and with this contract they prove their point.”

Production will take place at the company’s future “Megafactory” in Charleroi, described by RTBF as Europe’s largest satellite factory, capable of producing up to 500 satellites a year. RTBF reported that the contract will also lead to additional recruitment at the firm.

Why IRIS² exists

IRIS² is the EU’s secure satellite connectivity constellation, positioned alongside Galileo (navigation), Copernicus (Earth observation) and Ariane (launch) as a cornerstone of European space policy. According to the EU Agency for the Space Programme, EUSPA, the constellation will provide secure communication services to EU governments and institutions while also offering broadband connectivity for European citizens, private companies and public authorities.

The programme traces its roots to growing unease in Brussels over reliance on Starlink for defence-critical communications. VRT NWS noted that Musk’s threats to cut off the Ukrainian military from the network at a strategically sensitive moment underscored the risk of depending on a single foreign private actor. IRIS² is designed to be “sovereign, secure and resilient” — immune to foreign interference and accountable to European institutions.

Announcing the original IRIS² contracts in December 2024, EU Commissioner for Defence and Space Andrius Kubilius framed the programme in stark terms. “We are being threatened. Our communication is being threatened,” he said, citing undersea cables being cut and navigation signals jammed. “IRIS² gives us the ability to connect even in a hostile environment. We cannot afford to be too dependent on countries or companies from outside the European Union.”

The numbers behind the constellation

According to Spacepage.be, the total IRIS² programme is valued at €10.6 billion (about $11.1 billion). The EU contributes €6 billion, the European Space Agency €550 million, and the SpaceRISE consortium — led by Eutelsat, Hispasat and SES — €4.1 billion. The 12-year contracts run to 2036.

The constellation will span three orbital shells. Aerospacelab’s 264 satellites will occupy a “LEO High” shell at roughly 1,200 km, providing Ku- and Ka-band services. A further 18 satellites are planned for medium Earth orbit at about 8,000 km, while 10 or more smaller satellites will operate in a “LEO Low” shell between 400 and 750 km for technology incubation. Thirteen Ariane 64 launches are planned to deploy the network.

First launches are scheduled for 2029, with the constellation targeted to be operational by 2030. A critical design review is planned for early 2028.

A Starlink alternative — with caveats

While IRIS² is widely described as a European “Starlink alternative,” analysts stress the comparison has limits. Ilsen noted that IRIS² is primarily aimed at governments and defence, with only some civilian use — unlike Starlink, which is chiefly consumer-focused and operates a far larger fleet of satellites. EUSPA materials nonetheless claim the system will help “put an end to dead zones in Europe as well as the whole of Africa.”

What’s next

The contract cements Aerospacelab’s status among Europe’s next-generation space primes and signals a shift in the continent’s supply chain, where newer entrants are increasingly taking on work once reserved for established contractors such as Airbus, Thales Alenia Space and OHB. Reuters noted that the European Space Agency recently selected Germany’s Isar Aerospace for launch services on parts of its institutional missions — another sign of the changing landscape.

For Belgium, the win is a significant boost to the Walloon space industry and a signal that the country’s bet on vertically integrated satellite manufacturing is paying off. The key tests now lie ahead: completing the Charleroi Megafactory, scaling production to deliver 264 satellites on schedule, and proving that a constellation built primarily for governments can help Europe chart a more autonomous course in orbit.