OHB Signs ~ €1 Billion Contract for Development, Production of Satellite Platforms for European Union

(Bremen, Germany) OHB announced this morning (Aug. 31) that it has signed a contract worth nearly €1 billion with European satellite operator SES (NYSE: SES) for the development and production of eighteen medium Earth orbit (MEO) satellite platforms for the EU’s IRIS² (Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite) Secure Connectivity Programme.

Image courtesy of OHB.

The contract signing follows the official launch of the program’s implementation phase on August 6, 2026, and marks the first major contract awarded under the IRIS² concession, according to today’s press release from OHB.

Per OHB, IRIS² is Europe’s response to the growing need for secure, resilient and sovereign satellite communication capabilities — the system will comprise a constellation of 348 satellites operating in low Earth orbit (LEO) and MEO.

IRIS²’s multi-orbit architecture offers the advantage of requiring significantly fewer satellites to achieve global coverage than a purely LEO-based constellation, while still ensuring low signal latency, according to OHB.

“IRIS² will mark another significant step toward Europe’s independence. In an increasingly digital and highly mobile world, a resilient and autonomous communication infrastructure is indispensable. With Galileo and Copernicus, OHB has already helped shape two of Europe’s most important satellite programs. We are especially pleased to have been entrusted with the development of eighteen satellite platforms for IRIS², further expanding our role in Europe’s strategic space infrastructure,” said Marco Fuchs, CEO of OHB SE.

OHB shares (OHB.DE) closed up 6.28% at $201.50 on the Deutsche Börse Exchange.

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