Italy's IRIDE constellation completes 24-satellite Eaglet II deployment
The final eight Eaglet II satellites reached orbit Oct. 1, completing Italy's 24-satellite IRIDE sub-constellation in under a year.
what happened
ESA said the final batch of eight Eaglet II satellites, built by OHB Italia, launched Oct. 1 on SpaceX's Transporter-18 rideshare from Vandenberg, completing the 24-satellite Eaglet II constellation and bringing IRIDE's total satellite count to 39 in orbit. OHB said the three-batch Eaglet II deployment finished in less than a year; the satellites carry multispectral sensors and an Automatic Identification System for maritime tracking, and Italy's space agency ASI will operate them once commissioning is complete.
why it matters
IRIDE is a EUR1.1 billion government-owned Earth observation program that Italy is progressively taking over from ESA, and its stated plan to eventually open commercial registration makes each completed sub-constellation a growing dataset EO resellers and competing operators in Europe will need to track.
for who
EO resellers and operators active in Italy and Europe