• Thales Alenia Space received a French defense procurement agency contract on Nov. 9, 2026, to jointly develop IRIS with Airbus Defence and Space.
• The joint venture is 67% owned by Thales and 33% by Leonardo.
• IRIS will comprise two military optical observation satellites with associated ground infrastructure, progressively replacing the three CSO satellites.
• Thales Alenia Space will build imaging systems for the first satellite, with a higher-performance observation instrument planned for the second.

Disclaimer: This news brief was created by Public Technologies (PUBT) using generative artificial intelligence. While PUBT strives to provide accurate and timely information, this AI-generated content is for informational purposes only and should not be interpreted as financial, investment, or legal advice. THALES SA published the original content used to generate this news brief on November 09, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained therein.