Here’s what the top business (!) media wrote about the EU IRIS2 project:

Financial Times: Europe signs €10.6bn Iris² satellite deal in bid to rival Elon Musk’s Starlink.

Bloomberg: EU to build own satellite internet system to replace Starlink.

Which was in social media followed by ironic comparisons about how smart Starlink launched hundreds of satellites overnight for free using private money while stupid EU will launch a few for billions of taxpayer’s money (hyperbole intended). But if you actually go to check what IRIS2 is[^1]

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.

Is it comparable to Starlink? Not at all, but it’s actually very similar to anothet SpaceX project called Starshield[^2]

Starshield leverages SpaceX’s Starlink technology and launch capability to support national security efforts. While Starlink is designed for consumer and commercial use, Starshield is designed for government use.

If you read on[^3] you will see that the scale and commercial success of Starshield is quite humble when compared to Starlink… simply because its business goals are completely different from Starlink.

Interesting - why would US or EU governments procure their own dedicated communications systems when they could use much cheaper Baofeng walkie-talkies from China? Sheer stupidity and wasting of taxpayer’s money, isn’t it?

Or, why would top US financial media mislead their readers into a comparison between apples and oranges, anyone? 🤔

[^1]: https://defence-industry-space.ec.europa.eu/eu-space/iris2-secure-connectivity_en

[^2]: https://www.spacex.com/starshield/

[^3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_Starshield