IN Brief:
- SES has awarded OHB a contract worth nearly €1 billion to develop and manufacture all 18 IRIS² MEO satellite platforms.
- Each spacecraft will have a launch mass of about 2.6 tonnes and maximum electrical output of approximately 15kW.
- IRIS² now comprises 348 LEO and MEO satellites, with first launches planned from 2029 and initial services targeted for 2030.
OHB has secured a contract worth nearly €1 billion from SES to develop and manufacture all 18 medium Earth orbit satellite platforms for the European Union’s IRIS² secure-connectivity programme, turning one of the constellation’s principal orbital layers into a defined spacecraft production package.
The contract is the first major industrial award under the IRIS² concession since the programme entered its implementation phase on 6 August. SES is responsible for delivery of the medium Earth orbit segment within the SpaceRISE consortium, while OHB will provide the complete set of 18 MEO platforms.
Each spacecraft will have a launch mass of approximately 2.6 tonnes and maximum power output of around 15kW. First IRIS² launches are planned from 2029, with initial services expected in 2030.
Implementation moves into spacecraft manufacture
The award follows the implementation agreement that moved IRIS² from programme definition into full-scale deployment earlier in August. The revised programme now comprises 348 satellites, combining 330 spacecraft in low Earth orbit with the 18 MEO platforms that SES is responsible for delivering.
The multi-orbit design is intended to combine the low latency available from LEO services with broader coverage from MEO. For government and security users, the programme is also intended to provide a European-controlled communications infrastructure with a secured ground segment rather than relying exclusively on commercial networks outside EU strategic control.
OHB’s contract gives the MEO layer a defined manufacturer, spacecraft count, performance envelope, and industrial value. That is a significant transition for a programme that has spent much of its development life centred on governance, financing, concession structure, system architecture, and negotiations between public and private partners.
Eighteen spacecraft do not constitute mass production on the scale of a very large commercial LEO constellation, but the number is large enough to reward serial manufacturing. Once the platform design reaches sufficient maturity, assembly and test processes can be repeated across the production run rather than treating every satellite as an individual institutional mission.
That benefit depends on configuration stability. Late design changes can affect spacecraft already moving through different stages of assembly, generating rework and disrupting common test procedures. The programme therefore has to balance the need for a repeatable platform against evolving security, communications, and payload requirements.
Large MEO platforms place pressure on suppliers
The disclosed 2.6-tonne mass and 15kW maximum power level place the satellites well beyond small-spacecraft manufacturing. Structures, solar arrays, batteries, thermal control, propulsion, avionics, radiation-tolerant electronics, payload interfaces, communications equipment, and flight software all have to be integrated into a platform designed for long-duration service in medium Earth orbit.
That puts long-lead components and supplier capacity directly onto the programme schedule. Space-qualified electronics, propulsion equipment, high-reliability mechanisms, solar-array hardware, and specialist materials cannot always be sourced at the speed associated with commercial terrestrial manufacturing. Serial production can improve efficiency, but only if the component pipeline supports the same cadence.
OHB has been part of the SpaceRISE industrial core team since the programme’s earlier stages, which gives it prior familiarity with the system requirements. The latest contract nevertheless represents a material shift in responsibility: it is now contracted to develop and produce the complete MEO platform fleet for SES rather than contributing solely to programme definition.
SES itself carries a broader role. Alongside the 18 MEO satellites, the company is responsible for the MEO and user-terminal segments and for operations and services activities within IRIS². Its expected capital commitment to the MEO workstream is up to €1.35 billion under the implementation baseline agreed in August.
The spacecraft therefore have to mature alongside terminals, government control centres, ground infrastructure, launch services, network management, and the LEO portion of the constellation. A satellite fleet completed on schedule has limited value if the ground segment or service architecture needed to use it is late.
That systems dependency is particularly important for secure government communications. Encryption, identity management, cyber protection, traffic routing, gateway security, and operational control all sit outside the physical spacecraft bus while remaining essential to the service IRIS² is intended to provide.
The industrial structure is deliberately distributed across Europe. SpaceRISE comprises SES, Eutelsat, and Hispasat, supported by companies including OHB, Airbus Defence and Space, Thales Alenia Space, Aerospacelab, and a wider European supplier base. The MEO platform contract is therefore one substantial piece of a much larger production and integration programme.
OHB now has to convert the award into hardware milestones. Platform development will move through design reviews, supplier commitments, structural and engineering models, qualification, assembly, environmental testing, and launch preparation before the 2029 deployment target can be reached.
The 18-spacecraft sequence should provide opportunities to improve throughput as production progresses, but quality control remains unforgiving. Space hardware cannot be repaired economically once in operational orbit, so manufacturing repeatability, screening, verification, environmental test, and configuration control have to remain tight even as output increases.
For European secure communications, the award provides a more concrete measure of programme progress than another policy declaration. The MEO segment now has a prime platform manufacturer, 18 contracted spacecraft, defined basic physical characteristics, and nearly €1 billion attached to development and production.
The next evidence will come from factories rather than programme announcements. Design maturity, supplier awards, hardware integration, environmental qualification, launch readiness, and production cadence will determine whether IRIS² can meet its first-launch target from 2029 and begin service in 2030.
