Europe’s ambitious satellite Internet project appears to be running into trouble

Enlarge / EU Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton wants Europe to have its own secure satellite communications network. (credit: Thierry Monasse/Getty Images)

It has been 18 months since the European Union announced its intent to develop an independent satellite Internet constellation, and the plans appear to be heading into troubled waters.

In that time, a single bid—from a consortium of multinational companies that includes Airbus Defence and Space, Thales Alenia Space, and Arianespace—has emerged to build the network of a few hundred satellites. The companies are to build, launch, and deploy the network of satellites, intended as Europe’s answer to SpaceX’s Starlink satellite Internet service for connectivity and secure communications, by 2027.

However, the European Commission recently delayed the awarding of a contract to this consortium from March to an undetermined date. In April, Europe’s Commissioner for Internal Market, Thierry Breton, said, “There is an independent committee which is working on the evaluation process. The work is being carried out extremely seriously.” He did not say when this work would conclude.