Sept 10 (Reuters) - Aerospace group Thales Alenia Space has signed an agreement with satellite operator Eutelsat to supply government payloads for 330 of the European Union's IRIS² low Earth orbit satellites, it said on Thursday.
The company, a joint venture between France's Thales and Italy's Leonardo, said the order represented a tranche worth around €500 million ($582 million) under a broader IRIS² contract that is expected to exceed €3 billion.
Thales Alenia Space will supply the technical equipment to be transported on Eutelsat satellites, known as payloads, which are intended to support a secure space-based 5G network, enabling in-orbit traffic routing, active interference management and secure end-to-end communications, it said.
IRIS² is the EU's planned secure satellite communications constellation aimed at giving European governments and their armed forces a sovereign alternative to non-European systems, most notably Elon Musk's SpaceX. However, its rollout is facing questions as Germany pursues a separate national military satellite network, prompting fears about fragmentation of European efforts and rising costs.
The first 66 satellites under the programme will be launched starting in 2029.
(Reporting by Florence Loève; Writing by Gianluca Lo Nostro; Editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)