Chris Forrester — The news that Eutelsat has ordered 340 new OneWeb satellites, additional to its existing contract for 100 extra craft, secures the company’s future and can only benefit revenues once the fleet is in operation.
The 340 will guarantee Eutelsat’s existing services although at a cost of around $2.56 billion (€2.2bn) plus the cost of launches. Some of those launches are already booked. Eutelsat ordered about ten launches (“multiple launches”) from MaiaSpace to deploy a portion of the 440 new OneWeb satellites. Launches are scheduled from late 2027 to 2029. MaiaSpace thus secures 50 percent of the planned launches over the period.
MaiaSpace was founded in 2022 as a wholly owned subsidiary of ArianeGroup. The company is developing a two-stage, partially reusable launch vehicle called Maia, designed to deliver up to 4,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit when flown in its expendable configuration with the optional ‘kick’ stage.
The first 100, needed to ensure continuity of service, were ordered in December 2024 but observers say that the satellite operator needed to put its own finances in order before it could order the additional 340.
Eutelsat restructured its core finances by raising €1.5 billion in December 29025, including an extra chunk of capital placed into the operator by the French government which as a result now controls 29.65% of Eutelsat.
The new order will be fulfilled by Airbus Defence & Space at its Toulouse, France, facility, and the first batches should be ready for launch towards the end of this year. These early launches will replace OneWeb satellites launched in 2019 and 2020 and now reaching the end of their planned lives.
In its January 12 statement Eutelsat said the new fleet would integrate technology upgrades including advanced digital channelisers, enabling enhanced on-board processing capabilities as well as greater efficiency and flexibility and suggesting that the new craft could carry ‘hosted payloads’ for the French military.
Indeed, Eutelsat is reportedly talking to other European defense ministries and pitching similar options for dedicated payloads.
But there’s certainly going to be a slight disappointment for French pride in that the order has gone to Maia Space. Despite Maia being an Ariane subsidiary, some would have preferred Arianespace itself to be a carrier. There’s also the underlying fear that other rocket providers will be called upon to fill the gap given that Ariane itself is fully booked for 2026 and much of 2027 on other non-Eutelsat contracts.
Consequently, Eutelsat CEO Jean-François Fallacher might have to select SpaceX – which can carry 45 OneWebs – will be called into play. However, it is worth remembering that Eutelsat still has a contract in place with Jeff Bezos for a flight on Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket. The contract was signed with much fanfare at the 2017 Washington Satellite Show by Rodolphe Belmer, then CEO at Eutelsat, and with Bezos. It could well be that a New Glenn launch during 2027 could carry OneWeb satellites.
The new OneWeb contract is just the first stage of Eutelsat’s growth plan. The next step, now being made with the SpaceRISE consortium of which it is a key part, is the important European IRIS2 multi-orbit highly-secure satellite scheme. IRIS2, backed by the European Commission and European Space Agency but also with plenty of private cash from the likes of SES, Eutelsat and Hispasat, calls for 272 satellites in LEO (at 1200 kms) and 18 in MEO (at 8000kms). They would operate with laser connectivity.
The IRIS2 contract was signed with the SpaceRISE consortium which has to design, deliver and operate the Infrastructure of Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite (IRIS²) for a concession period of 12 years.
Eutelsat has to pay for its place in the consortium, and is said to be in talks with financing sources including the French BPIFrance and EK Export Finance agencies.
SpaceRISE issued its Requests for Proposals (RFP) on December 28 2025 to Europe’s satellite builders and launch suppliers, and there’s a requirement that some 30% of the satellite contract value must go to small and medium-sized industry businesses.
These combined elements will keep Eutelsat busy for a year or two, but its OneWeb revenue growth should help fund expansion. Eutelsat says it expects its LEO revenues to grow by around 50% – and possibly more – as 2026-2027 unfolds. Eutelsat is targeting total revenue of between €1.5 billion and €1.7 billion by the end of 2028-2029. Much of that will come from OneWeb.
With the first OneWeb launches now likely to take place before calendar year-end 2026, Eutelsat’s revenue stream should grow commensurately.
