ESA / EC Media invitation to IRIS² satellite constellation event on 16 Dec. in Brussels, Berlaymont press room

N° 71-2024: ESA / EC Media invitation to IRIS² satellite constellation event on 16 Dec. in Brussels, Berlaymont press room In cooperation with the EC, ESA would like to invite journalists to a series of events related to IRIS², the upcoming "Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite" taking place on Monday, 16 December 2024 in the European Commission premises, Berlaymont (Rue de la loi, 200, 1049 Bruxelles, BE).

The activities are lead by EC/DG DEFIS Communications, with key contributions from ESA and space industry.

Media programme at Berlaymont

- 9:30-10:30

Technical briefing on IRIS² in Berlaymont press room and online, with senior EC experts and Josef Aschbacher, ESA Director General, as well as Laurent Jaffart, ESA Director of Connectivity and Secure Communications. A link will be sent to you on Monday early morning.

- 11:00-12:00

Opening speeches and contract signing ceremony by EU Commissioner Andrius Kubilius, in the presence of ESA DG Josef Aschbacher, and senior representatives of the SpaceRISE Industry consortium, lead by SES.

Press Q&A session with Commissioner and ESA management on IRIS² at the Berlaymont Piazza (ground floor, in front of canteen).

The IRIS² Satellite Constellation is the European Union’s third flagship, addressing long-term challenges of EU’s security, safety and resilience by offering enhanced connectivity services to governmental users. ESA is the technical implementing agency for IRIS², in particular with the experts of the ESA Directorate of Connectivity and Secure Communications (CSC), lead by Laurent Jaffart.

Contract signatures on 16 December

The first contract shall be signed by the European Commission and ESA. The second contract will be between ESA and an industrial consortium called SpaceRISE that is led by European satellite operators SES, Eutelsat and Hispasat, and includes satellite manufacturers Airbus and Thales Alenia Space, etc. More details, background, graphics and fresh photos to follow in a separate

More on ESA CSC: https://www.esa.int/Application­s/Connecti­vity_and_S­ecure_Comm­unications

On X: @esatelecoms

These events are open to EU-accredited journalists. Non-accredited journalists may apply, as soon as possible, for a daily EU-accreditation by following this procedure:

1-day media accreditation for our online press events - European Commission - for online participation

1-day media accreditation to the European Commission - European Commission - for in-person participation at Berlaymont

In case of questions, please contact the EC DG DEFIS Press service: Thomas.REGNIER@ec.europa.eu and patricia.poropat@ec.europa.eu

ESA Media Relations contact:

Bernhard.von.Weyhe@esa.int or media@esa.int

About the European Space Agency

The European Space Agency (ESA) provides Europe’s gateway to space.

ESA is an intergovernmental organisation, created in 1975, with the mission to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space delivers benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world

ESA has 22 Member States: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia are Associate Members.

ESA has established formal cooperation with four Member States of the EU. Canada takes part in some ESA programmes under a Cooperation Agreement.

By coordinating the financial and intellectual resources of its members, ESA can undertake programmes and activities far beyond the scope of any single European country. It is working in particular with the EU on implementing the Galileo and Copernicus programmes as well as with Eumetsat for the development of meteorological missions.

Learn more about ESA at www.esa.int/