Eutelsat Orders 340 Satellites from Airbus to Expand OneWeb Network
JAKARTA - The satellite operator Eutelsat, supported by the French and British governments, has ordered 340 new satellites from Airbus to update and extend the OneWeb low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite network. This was announced jointly by the two companies on Monday, January 12.
According to Eutelsat, the additional satellites are aimed at maintaining the sustainability of services by gradually replacing the early generation satellites that are nearing the end of their operational life.
"This additional satellite will allow the service to continue to operate by replacing the earliest units as the satellite's service life ends," Eutelsat said in a statement.
The first OneWeb satellite was launched about six years ago, before the London-based operator joined Eutelsat in 2023. With this latest purchase, coupled with the 100 satellites that were ordered in December 2024, the total number of OneWeb satellites that have been contracted now reaches 440 units. The delivery of these satellites is expected to begin at the end of 2026.
Although the details of the contract value were not disclosed, Eutelsat previously stated that extending the life of the OneWeb constellation to the EU's IRIS² constellation would require an additional 340 satellites beyond the initial commitment of 100 units.
The total cost of this extension program is estimated at around 2 billion euros to 2.2 billion euros, or the equivalent of around 2.3 billion US dollars to 2.6 billion US dollars, for the period 2024-2029.
In recent times, Eutelsat has attracted greater attention from European governments because the company operates the only other low-Earth orbit satellite constellation besides Elon Musk's Starlink.
These satellites are used to provide internet services from space, which brings broadband connectivity to businesses, governments, and consumers in underserved areas.
In 2025, France led the capital increase of 1.5 billion euros, which was also followed by the United Kingdom and a number of other major investors. This step aims to strengthen Eutelsat's financial condition, as it strives to compete with Starlink in the global satellite-based internet service market.