SpaceNov 10, 2026, 3:09 PM UTC·2 min read

France orders IRIS spy satellites from Airbus and Thales

France's defence procurement agency has ordered two IRIS military observation satellites from Airbus and Thales Alenia Space in a contract worth over €1.5 billion.

Artist's impression of a French military optical reconnaissance satellite orbiting above Earth. — Image: Numerama

France has moved its next-generation reconnaissance satellites from study to production. On 5 November, the Direction générale de l'armement (DGA) awarded Airbus Defence and Space and Thales Alenia Space the contract to build IRIS, two military optical observation satellites. The DGA announced it on Monday 9 November. Airbus puts the value at more than €1.5 billion for the whole group of companies.

IRIS stands for « instruments de renseignement et d'imagerie spatiale ». It is run by the armed forces ministry and is unrelated to the European IRIS² constellation, despite the similar name. According to the DGA, it will image any point on the globe in extremely high resolution, day and night, in visible light and infrared. It will also observe objects in orbit to monitor space and identify threats there.

Fewer satellites, better performance

IRIS will have two satellites, against three for the current Composante spatiale optique (CSO), launched in December 2018, December 2020 and March 2025. The DGA promises better performance and faster delivery of images to forces in the field and to the government, while taking over all CSO missions. A third satellite could be added later, as happened with CSO through a partnership with Germany, but nothing has been announced.

The contract covers design, manufacturing and testing, plus the ground stations that control the satellites and receive imagery, and operations in orbit until the end of the 2030s. Airbus will supply both platforms, much of the first satellite's optical instrument and the ground facilities. Thales Alenia Space will develop the new-generation instrument for the second satellite and key parts of the first one's. The Space Command in Toulouse will operate the system.

A later start than planned

The first satellite is due in service around 2033. The programme entered preparation in July 2019, with an initial target of a first satellite before the end of 2030. The updated military programming law, promulgated on 16 August 2026, pushed the target for both satellites to 2035. It also added €3.9 billion to military space spending for 2026-2030, 65% more than planned. The CSO satellites will therefore have to keep up the mission for at least seven more years.

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Tags:irisairbusthales alenia spacedgamilitary satellitesearth observation