The Diplomat
The Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, announced this Wednesday the launch of a Special Modernization Program to finance the development of IRIS Square, the European Commission’s future secure communications system. This will allow Spain to have “its own satellite capabilities and secure communications systems for operations and deployments considered to be of interest to national defense.”
During the closing of the Space Congress “One Country, One Space,” held in Madrid and also attended by the Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities, Diana Morant, Sánchez asserted that Spain can be “a European leader in the space sector,” a sector “that continues to grow” in our country and which demonstrates the “success of a bold commitment, in which the Spanish Government has invested resources and means like never before” through public-private collaboration.
In this context, the Prime Minister announced that the government, through the Ministries of Defense and Industry, “will launch this year the Special Modernization Program to finance the development of IRIS Square, which will provide Spain with its own satellite capabilities, with national coverage, and secure communications for deployments of interest to national defense.”
This initiative, he assured, will also represent “a great opportunity for the development and consolidation of the national industrial value chain, both in satellite manufacturing and in its ground segment.” “It is about Europe making real progress towards true space sovereignty, consistent with its ambition to be sovereign in the strategic domains of the future,” he added.
Secondly, the Prime Minister announced that the European Space Astronomy Centre “will significantly expand its capabilities in Spain” through the incorporation of a Space Science Outreach and Education Centre, a Centre responsible for operating the Digital Library of the Universe, and a third Centre of Excellence in Space Sustainability.
