Financial 'stretch' for UK to join Europe's Starlink rival, says minister

A UK minister has told Parliament that joining Europe's answer to Starlink — Elon Musk's satellite-based mobile internet service — would be a "stretch" given the nation's current financial challenges.

In December last year, the EU signed a contract with the Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite (IRIS²) initiative, a multi-orbital constellation of 290 satellites, with the SpaceRISE consortium made up of European satellite network operators SES, Eutelsat, and Hispasat. The total cost of the 12-year project is set to be €10.6 billion, with €6 billion from the EU, €550 million from the European Space Agency (ESA) and more than €4 billion from the private sector.

The UK missed out on the early stages of the project after formally leaving the EU in 2020. However, the UK has become more aligned with EU science and technology projects since rejoining its €100 billion (£86 billion, $107 billion ...