South Korea Signs Pact With EU on Satellite Network

South Korea on Thursday signed an administrative agreement with the European Commission to explore future integration with the bloc’s secure satellite constellation IRIS². “It marks a starting point towards a deeper European Union-Korea partnership in secure space infrastructure in IRIS²,” Defence and Space Commissioner Andrius Kubilius said during the signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding on Thursday. JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. A working group, which includes the Commission, the European Space Agency, and the Republic of Korea’s Defence Acquisition Program Administration and Agency for Defence Development, will share information on existing and forthcoming secure‑connectivity programmes. It will also explore joint applications and use cases, and assess technical solutions for system-level cooperation with IRIS², the press release states. “This arrangement marks a critical milestone in strengthening cooperation between Korea’s sovereign K-LEO program and the EU’s flagship IRIS² constellation,” said Giyoung Jeoung, deputy minister for South Korea’s Advanced Capabilities Program. IRIS² is the bloc’s space-based secure military and commercial communications initiative, which aims to provide a European alternative to the US giant Starlink. The constellation is set to begin operations in 2029. Other Topics of Interest Moscow Expands Asset Grab Against Western Companies – Why It Could Backfire Russia is taking control of more Western businesses, but the short-term gains could deepen investor distrust and legal risks. Non-EU members Norway and Iceland recently announced that they would join the project with a respective contribution of about €40 million ($45.9 million) and €3 million ($3.4 million) for 2026–2027. Currently, the EU budget for IRIS² is €10.6 billion ($12.2 billion), with future amounts to be negotiated after the next EU seven-year budget is finalised. The Commission also began talks with Ukraine last week on joining the initiative. South Korea would be the first Asian country to join the constellation. The cooperation will give Seoul access to the EU’s secure constellation architecture, while the EU space industry would learn from Korean industrial expertise. It is unclear, however, when the country would start negotiations to join IRIS². Seoul has a long-standing partnership with the EU on space, starting with its participation in the bloc’s civil satellite navigation programme Galileo in 2006. The business case for low-Earth orbit telecommunications constellations depends on reaching customers across multiple markets globally. The EU constellation’s economic viability would increase if it could access the South Korean market.The country is already building its own low Earth orbit satellite communications network (K-LEO), which it aims to establish by 2035 with up to 512 satellites. See the original by Charles Cohen, Théophane Hartmann here. Euractiv is a European news website focused on EU policies. It was founded in 1999 by the French media publisher Christophe Leclercq. The website's headquarters and central editorial staff are located in Brussels, with offices in Paris and Berlin.