By Gianluca Lo Nostro
PARIS, March 31 (Reuters) – Eutelsat, Europe’s main rival to Elon Musk’s satellite internet provider Starlink, is in talks with India’s space agency about future satellite launches as it seeks to diversify beyond SpaceX and Europe’s Ariane rockets.
Jean-François Fallacher, CEO of France-based Eutelsat since last June, told Reuters that negotiations 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 satellite 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 said 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, because launch capacity needs to be prepared very much in advance,” he said. “India is a huge country … so getting market access is strategic.”
ISRO launched 72 OneWeb satellites on its LVM3 rocket before the merger. OneWeb satellites, 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 targeting a domestic space economy worth about $44 billion by 2033, according to official estimates.
EUTELSAT FULLY FINANCED THROUGH 2031, CEO SAYS
Eutelsat operates 650 satellites and expects to reach more than 1,000 “very soon”, Fallacher said. Airbus is building 440 satellites, 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 satellites, saying Eutelsat would scale as needed.
“It’s not a question of number of satellites, because when you are higher in space, you need fewer satellites. As soon as it’s becoming a limitation, we will order new satellites and we will grow the constellation,” he said.
The company is fully financed through 2031, he added, after securing 5 billion euros ($5.7 billion) in a refinancing last year that made 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 said.
Eutelsat estimates it will spend around 2 billion euros to buy and launch its 440 satellites by 2030. Launches typically account for 30% to 40% of total programme costs.
($1 = 0.8720 euros)
(Reporting by Gianluca Lo Nostro. Additional reporting by Nivedita Bhattacharjee in Bengaluru. Editing by Adam Jourdan and Mark Potter)
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