February 16, the European Union announced on Tuesday local time that it plans to spend 6 billion euros to build a satellite network that can provide secure communications.

It is reported that this is the most detailed plan for the low-Earth orbit satellite network published by the EU so far. The whole project will cost 6 billion euros, of which the European Commission plans to allocate 2.4 billion euros from the budget, and the rest will come from EU countries and suppliers.

EU Internal Marketing Commissioner Thierry Breton has been pushing for the adoption of the plan in the European Union for more than a year. He said on Monday that it is crucial for Europe to have its own “satellite network”.

He said that the EU’s satellite network program will help improve the security and self-sufficiency of network communication in EU countries, while ensuring better broadband access services in Europe and Africa “… This is crucial,” Bretton Woods stressed at a press conference on Tuesday.

Competitors such as SpaceX are already using low-Earth orbit satellites to build Internet networks. These spacecraft are closer to the surface than geosynchronous satellites that provide TV and remote communication services, which means that they can provide users with faster Internet services. However, these satellites have not been in orbit for a long time, and covering the same geographical range requires the launch of more satellites.

More importantly, with the increase in the number and relative density of satellites operating in orbit, the fear of possible collisions between spacecraft is also increasing.

SpaceX’s Star Chain System has launched about 2,000 satellites. Amazon is also planning a similar system called Project Kuiper.

The EU has a start-up called OneWeb in the industry, supported by British, Indian conglomerate Bharti Global, SoftBank and French satellite operator Eutelsat SA. It has put two-thirds of the originally planned 648 satellites into orbit.