Eutelsat makes use of SpaceX rocket to launch first satellites after merger

Eutelsat, the world’s third-biggest satellite tv for pc operator by income, launched 20 satellites for its communications community on Sunday, utilizing Elon Musk’s SpaceX in its first transfer because the merger of two European corporations final yr.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket took off, with Eutelsat satellites from California’s Vandenberg House Pressure Base at 0513 GMT.

“That is the primary OneWeb launch of the satellites because the merger,” CEO Eva Berneke informed Reuters in an interview. “We will likely be launching extra satellites over the approaching years.”

The Paris-based group shaped by the merger in September final yr of France’s Eutelsat and Britain’s OneWeb has a constellation of over 600 low earth orbit satellites that cater to broadcasters, telecom corporations and radio stations.

“We actually wish to combine into the telco ecosystem,” Berneke stated. “Satellites are an fascinating area of interest within the general connectivity ecosystems the place telcos are the large boys within the class and satellite tv for pc will at all times be a smaller half.”

Eutelsat counts telecom operators akin to France’s Orange and Australia’s Telstra as shoppers and is in talks with others akin to AT&T within the U.S.

The corporate, which has a backlog of orders of $4 billion, is ready for nations akin to India and Saudi Arabia to open up.

India – a market set to develop 36% a yr to $1.9 billion by 2030 – is within the technique of permitting satellite tv for pc providers. It has skilled friction between home gamers and firms akin to Starlink.

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“Now we have a few of our backlog sitting within the Indian market… It sits there till India will get open, the day it will get open, we’ll begin constructing,” Berneke stated.

The corporate can also be in talks with aviation corporations to supply in-flight connectivity, together with web shopping, and expects income to begin rising from subsequent yr, she stated.