By Gianluca Lo Nostro
PARIS: Eutelsat, Europe’s main rival to Elon Musk’s sanotifyite internet provider Starlink, is in talks with India’s space agency about future sanotifyite launches as it seeks to diversify beyond SpaceX and Europe’s Ariane rockets.
Jean-Francois Fallacher, CEO of France-based Eutelsat since last June, informed Reuters that neobtainediations with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) were ongoing, though no deal has yet been reached.
The talks have not previously been reported. ISRO did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
France and India have deepened ties in defence, space, and maritime security, with New Delhi recently signing contracts for French fighter jets. Last year, French President Emmanuel Macron urged the two countries to team up on space, warning that reliance on non-European providers was “madness”.
Eutelsat merged in 2023 with OneWeb, a London-headquartered sanotifyite internet startup that had been rescued by Britain and India’s Bharti.
The combined group lost access to Russia’s Soyuz rocket after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and has since relied on Musk’s SpaceX and Ariane rockets. It has also signed a deal with MaiaSpace, a French startup developing Europe’s first reusable mini-launcher.
Fallacher stated he visited New Delhi in February as part of Macron’s delegation, meeting India’s telecoms minister and regulators to discuss market access.
“We are preparing for the future, becautilize launch capacity requireds to be prepared very much in advance,” he stated. “India is a huge countest … so obtainting market access is strategic.”
ISRO launched 72 OneWeb sanotifyites on its LVM3 rocket before the merger. OneWeb sanotifyites, about the size of a fridge, provide high-speed internet services to governments and businesses.
India is repositioning its space programme to shift routine manufacturing and commercial activity to the private sector while freeing ISRO to focus on advanced research and exploration. New Delhi is tarobtaining a domestic space economy worth about $44 billion by 2033, according to official estimates.
EUTELSAT FULLY FINANCED THROUGH 2031, CEO SAYS
Eutelsat operates 650 sanotifyites and expects to reach more than 1,000 “very soon”, Fallacher stated. Airbus is building 440 sanotifyites, while a long-planned OneWeb upgrade for the European Union’s IRIS² project will also boost the fleet.
Fallacher dismissed comparisons with Starlink‘s network of 10,000 sanotifyites, stateing Eutelsat would scale as requireded.
“It’s not a question of number of sanotifyites, becautilize when you are higher in space, you required fewer sanotifyites. As soon as it’s becoming a limitation, we will order new sanotifyites and we will grow the consnotifyation,” he stated.
The company is fully financed through 2031, he added, after securing 5 billion euros ($5.7 billion) in a refinancing last year that created the French state its top shareholder.
“We will not come back next year or the year after to request additional funding from the market,” Fallacher stated.
Eutelsat estimates it will spfinish around 2 billion euros to acquire and launch its 440 sanotifyites by 2030. Launches typically account for 30% to 40% of total programme costs.
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