Eutelsat plans to invest about \u20ac1 billion in 229 additional OneWeb satellites built by Airbus Defence and Space. The spacecraft will replenish and expand its low Earth orbit network through 2034, protecting service continuity while adding customer capacity.<\/p>\n
The companies have signed an Authorisation to Proceed that allows Airbus to begin initial industrial work. Eutelsat announced the agreement at the International Space Summit in Paris.<\/p>\n
The planned order follows an earlier procurement of 440 OneWeb satellites from Airbus. It will bring the number of new OneWeb spacecraft covered by the two agreements to 669.<\/p>\n
The first satellites from the existing order are due for delivery next quarter, with launches expected soon afterwards. The additional batch will then support a phased expansion and replenishment of the constellation over the following decade.<\/p>\n
The new spacecraft will use advanced digital channelisers to improve onboard processing, efficiency and operational flexibility. Their design will also allow customers to install hosted payloads.<\/p>\n
Eutelsat said the investment remained within its existing financial framework and would not alter its capital expenditure plan through the 2029 financial year. The company is positioning OneWeb as the foundation of its near-term LEO growth before the introduction of IRIS\u00b2.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an exciting next step for OneWeb and for Eutelsat\u2019s LEO strategy,\u201d said Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Fallacher, chief executive officer of Eutelsat. \u201cWith the first satellites from the 440 due for delivery and launch soon, our replenishment programme is moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eutelsat is the only European operator of a fully operational global LEO network, according to the company. It said the planned procurement reflected confidence in OneWeb, rising demand for satellite connectivity and the growth prospects of the LEO market.<\/p>\n
The next stage of the strategy will centre on IRIS\u00b2, the European secure-connectivity programme. Eutelsat will lead the design, deployment and operation of its LEO segment, including a commercial Ku-band constellation expected to enter service by mid-2032.<\/p>\n
IRIS\u00b2 is expected to provide Eutelsat with access to more than twice OneWeb\u2019s current capacity and a new generation of capabilities. The two constellations will operate as complementary parts of the company\u2019s long-term LEO strategy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe planned addition of 229 more satellites will further strengthen OneWeb, while IRIS\u00b2 will bring significant new capacity and capabilities,\u201d Fallacher said. \u201cTogether, they give us a powerful roadmap to serve our customers, grow our LEO business and reinforce our role at the heart of Europe\u2019s sovereign connectivity future.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Eutelsat plans to invest about \u20ac1 billion in 229 additional OneWeb satellites built by Airbus Defence and Space.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":892978,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[49,48,66,306],"class_list":["post-892977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/892977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=892977"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/892977\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/892978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=892977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=892977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=892977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}