The EU’s IRIS² constellation is managed by the European Commission, the European Space Agency and EUSPA under a 12-year concession with SpaceRISE signed 2024, December 16. It will comprise 290 satellites across LEO and MEO orbits and serve governmental users with secure connectivity and commercial clients with broadband access. Total cost was estimated at €10.6 billion funded by public and private sources, of which €6.5 billion came from EU budgets and the remainder from industry partners. Eutelsat joined SpaceRISE alongside SES and Hispasat. ESA monitors technical development under the concession and oversees launch preparations for 2029, with operations scheduled from 2030.

Bharti Space’s commitment of €150 million emerged from a broader €1.5 billion capital increase for Eutelsat launched 2025, June 19. The French state subscribed €717 million to reach 29.99 percent ownership. The UK government signed on for €163.3 million in two tranches to take about 10.89 percent, retaining special rights over OneWeb. Bharti’s total infusion comprised €30 million in a reserved capital increase and €120.1 million via rights issue, resulting in a 17.8 percent stake by mid-July 2025. Other investors included CMA CGM and Fonds Stratégique de Participations.

France remains the largest single shareholder in Eutelsat with nearly 30 percent of equity acquired through state-owned APE. The UK holds about 11 percent alongside a golden share for OneWeb matters due to its role in rescuing that LEO constellation after bankruptcy. Bharti’s holding ranks it third among significant investors. Direct equity grants board seats and voting rights without national security firewalls. No formal ring-fence limits Bharti’s visibility into Eutelsat’s contracts, payload integration plans or service priorities.

EU institutions retain ultimate authority over IRIS² mission design, security protocols and access governance. Member agencies set routing rules, authentication and encryption standards and approve ground-station networks. Eutelsat and other industrial partners handle payload manufacturing, orbital services, traffic scheduling and ground operations. Influence over those functions arises through equity stakes and board representation rather than majority control. Bharti’s position enables it to lobby for market access in Asia-Pacific and secure favourable orbital resources without altering the official chain of command.

Observer assessments noted that sovereign infrastructure requires not only institutional control but also a supply chain free of external equities that could be leveraged in crisis scenarios. EU procurement rules for IRIS² contracts did not impose caps on foreign ownership of key suppliers. The absence of capital-structure restrictions allowed Bharti’s investment to proceed without secondary review of potential strategic risks. That gap contrasts with measures applied in other critical domains where foreign direct investments trigger special authorisations or disposition of shares.

Public statements by the Commission and space agencies continue to stress Europe’s strategic autonomy in space. They highlight resilience against jamming, capacity to reroute traffic and dual-use capabilities for defence and civil missions. Eutelsat press materials focus on its technical role in supplying MEO and LEO bandwidth to the IRIS² system. Bharti Space executives frame their move as a market-driven expansion into global connectivity, not as a bid for strategic leverage over EU networks.

The tension between formal sovereignty and underlying dependencies embodies the central risk identified in the article. IRIS²’s architecture eliminates reliance on non-European state-owned satellite systems. Yet a significant share of its industrial backbone now sits with a private group headquartered outside the EU. That arrangement aligns with commercial norms but diverges from the pure sovereign ideal of zero external levers of influence.