France, Sept. 10 -- Airbus Defence and Space has signed the initial contract for the design and build of the first layer of satellites for Europe's sovereign IRIS² constellation. Eutelsat, responsible in the SpaceRISE consortium for the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) segment of the constellation, has thus enabled Airbus and Thales Alenia Space to start working on the first layer of satellites.IRIS² (Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite) is the EU's new flagship space programme for a digital, resilient and safer Europe. With a multi-orbit satellite constellation, it will deliver resilient and secure connectivity solutions to governments to protect European citizens and will provide commercial services in the inte...