Eutelsat plans €1 billion investment in 229 Airbus-built OneWeb satellites to secure LEO network continuity through 2034

Eutelsat plans to invest about €1 billion in 229 additional OneWeb low-Earth-orbit satellites built by Airbus Defence and Space. The companies have signed an Authorisation to Proceed allowing Airbus to begin initial industrial work; the planned order follows an earlier procurement of 440 satellites and would bring the two agreements to 669 spacecraft. The new satellites are intended to replenish and expand the network through 2034, using advanced digital channelisers to improve onboard processing and supporting hosted payloads. The programme is designed to maintain OneWeb capacity until the commercial Ku-band component of Europe’s IRIS² constellation is expected to enter service around mid-2032.