Starlink extends its lead and widens the advantage over rivals.
SpaceX’s low Earth orbit satellite connectivity constellation, Elon Musk’s company, has surpassed 10,000 active satellites, consolidating a dominant position over competitors, while European operators like Eutelsat are trying to strengthen their presence through investments and new industrial partnerships, reports today La Tribune.
Low Earth orbit is indeed becoming an increasingly important market, promising high-speed connectivity and lower latency – that is, the speed at which a signal travels from Earth to a satellite and back – compared to traditional operators in higher orbits.
Starlink’s numbers widen the distances compared to rivals including Amazon Leo’s satellite internet service (formerly Project Kuiper) from the tech giant founded by Jeff Bezos and the Canadian Telesat, which has not yet launched satellites. Then there is OneWeb, the world’s second-largest Leo constellation after SpaceX’s Starlink with 630 satellites in low Earth orbit.
However, the network managed by the European operator Eutelsat has less than a tenth of the satellites managed by Starlink in the low orbit region. Catching up is a challenge. Earlier this year the European satellite operator indeed ordered 340 new OneWeb satellites from Airbus, significantly expanding the renewal and extension program of its low Earth orbit constellation.
All the details.
OVER 10,000 SATELLITES SURPASSED IN LOW EARTH ORBIT
Elon Musk’s constellation has surpassed the symbolic threshold of 10,000 satellites, considerably widening the gap with European and Chinese competitors, according to data collected by the French startup Look Up, specialized in space monitoring.
COMPARISON WITH ONEWEB, AMAZON LEO AND CHINESE CONSTELLATIONS
With the latest launch on March 13 from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, Starlink now has 10,003 operational satellites. For comparison, Eutelsat’s OneWeb constellation has only 651 satellites, while Amazon Leo, launched by Jeff Bezos, has 210. The Chinese companies Guo Wang and Qian Fan have 154 and 108 satellites respectively.
“Starlink surpassing the threshold of 10,000 active satellites demonstrates that a single private operator can now structure a significant part of the activity in low Earth orbit,” explained Michel Friedling, former French space commander and co-founder of Look Up.
A MATTER OF SOVEREIGNTY AND STRATEGY
According to the expert, these commercial megaconstellations play “a central role” in the economic and strategic balance, and the ability to monitor what happens in orbit is “a fundamental matter of sovereignty.”
THE TEST BETWEEN STARLINK AND ONEWEB ON THE FRENCH CMA CGM FLEET
Having a satellite constellation also represents a matter of technological sovereignty, as it allows states and operators to control strategic infrastructures for communications and data.
It is no coincidence that last month the Financial Times reported that the French container transport group CMA CGM will test Eutelsat’s satellite broadband network alongside SpaceX’s Starlink service on its fleet, demonstrating support for the European competitor.
The world’s third-largest container transport company is installing antennas to capture Eutelsat’s OneWeb services on about 350 of its ships, as part of a two-year contract that provides for switching from one network to the other before a potential final choice. Ramon Fernandez, CMA CGM’s financial officer, told the British newspaper that, although the two services are complementary, the company will “over time choose the operator that best meets our needs.”
Financial details of the agreement have not been disclosed, which comes at a critical time for Eutelsat, engaged in promoting its low Earth orbit network, a market dominated by Starlink.
EUTELSAT TRIES TO ACCELERATE
For its part, the European operator Eutelsat is trying to accelerate in the race against Starlink.
Eutelsat operates 34 geostationary satellites, orbiting 35,000 km above Earth, and about 630 low Earth orbit satellites following the merger with British OneWeb in 2023, orbiting about 1,200 km above Earth. Eutelsat claims that for users in Europe it offers the same capabilities as Starlink in terms of coverage and latency, recently reported by Reuters.
OneWeb’s low Earth orbit satellites are the same as SpaceX’s Starlink, whose constellation of 10,000 satellites provides internet access in 125 countries. As already mentioned, today OneWeb is the world’s second-largest Leo constellation after Elon Musk’s, despite being less than a tenth its size.
OneWeb is also trying to upgrade its Leo constellation of over 600 satellites. Earlier this year the European satellite operator ordered 340 new OneWeb satellites from Airbus, significantly expanding the renewal and extension program of its low Earth orbit constellation. The agreement follows the order of 100 units signed in December 2024, bringing Eutelsat’s total order portfolio with the European manufacturer to 440 satellites.
WITH THE SUPPORT OF PARIS
To finance these and another 100 already ordered, Eutelsat, listed in Paris, obtained last month a loan of 1 billion euros from some banks, guaranteed by the French state.
France is now the main shareholder with a stake of almost 30%, after the government increased its participation with a capital increase last year. The United Kingdom, which had saved OneWeb from bankruptcy before its sale to Eutelsat in 2023, holds 11%.
This is not Paris’s first intervention towards the satellite operator: last June the company announced a recapitalization of 1.35 billion euros, which saw the French state allocate 717 million euros, becoming again the largest shareholder with 29.9% of the capital, compared to the previous 13%. But it doesn’t end there. Recently the French government, through veto power, blocked the agreement with Eutelsat that intended to sell its terrestrial infrastructures (antennas and circuits) to the Swedish fund EQT for about 550 million, an operation that would have helped reduce debt.
For its part, Eutelsat CEO Jean-François Fallacher expressed satisfaction for the support received from the French government, emphasizing that the refinancing strengthens Eutelsat’s financial structure and provides the necessary resources to develop low Earth orbit programs.
