OneWeb filed for bankruptcy in March 2020 with 74 satellites in orbit, was rescued by the UK government and India’s Bharti with $1 billion, finished its constellation in March 2023 and merged with French operator Eutelsat that September. The combined group reported revenue of 1,235.9 million euros for the year to June 2026, of which low Earth orbit services contributed 297 million euros, up about 70% like for like. The French state now holds 29.65% after a 1.5 billion euro capital increase, and 669 replacement satellites are on order from Airbus.
Eutelsat OneWeb is the low Earth orbit (LEO) arm of Eutelsat Group, the Paris-based satellite operator, and the only operational broadband constellation of its kind outside SpaceX’s Starlink, according to Reuters. Its history includes a bankruptcy, a government rescue, satellites stranded at a Russian-run launch site, a cross-border merger and a recapitalization led by the French state. That makes it a rare example of a space business whose shareholders are mostly governments and strategic industrial groups. This article covers how the company got here, how it earns money, what the latest accounts show and what the replacement programme will cost. It is part of the Kurums Space Economy hub, our guide to the companies and economics of commercial space.
Who owns Eutelsat OneWeb?
Eutelsat Group owns it. After the December 2025 capital increase the group’s main shareholders were the French state with 29.65%, Bharti Space with 17.88%, the UK government with 10.89%, CMA CGM with 7.46% and FSP with 4.99%.
How fast is the LEO business growing?
LEO revenue was 297.0 million euros in the year to 30 June 2026, up 69.5% like for like, and about a quarter of group revenue. Management guides to growth above 30% in the following year.
What does it not do?
It does not sell a mass-market consumer service. Customers are governments, airlines, shipping, enterprises and telecom operators, reached through distribution partners.
How did OneWeb go bankrupt and who rescued it?
OneWeb filed for bankruptcy protection in March 2020 after its financing fell through, with 74 satellites launched out of a planned constellation of about 650. On 3 July 2020 the UK government and Bharti Global agreed to commit $1 billion, half each, to restart it.
Mobile World Live reported at the time that the UK government would receive a significant equity share and described the investment as a first sovereign space capability for Britain. For Bharti, an Indian telecom group, the logic was distribution: a company with customers in India and other emerging markets could resell satellite capacity where ground networks do not reach.
The rescue set the pattern for everything since. OneWeb’s first owners had planned and partly built a constellation as a venture-funded startup. From 2020 onward it was a strategic asset owned by a state and an operator, with later investors drawn from the satellite and defense industries. That changed the kind of capital available. It also changed the customer focus, from consumers in unserved areas to governments and businesses that pay more per connection and sign longer contracts.
How was the constellation completed after Russia?
OneWeb had been launching from the Russian-run Baikonur site in Kazakhstan under its Arianespace contract. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 it suspended those launches, wrote off $229 million and switched to SpaceX and India’s space agency. A launch from India on 26 March 2023 completed the first-generation network at 618 satellites.
The write-down, reported by TechInformed from the company’s annual report, covered 36 satellites left at the Baikonur launch site and related prepaid costs. Turning to SpaceX meant buying launches from the owner of its main competitor, a decision that shows how few alternatives existed. The March 2023 launch used India’s LVM3 rocket and carried 36 satellites.
Via Satellite reported that 588 satellites were needed for global coverage and that the remaining 30 provided redundancy. The chief executive at the time, Neil Masterson, called it the most significant milestone in the company’s history. Global service was expected by the end of 2023, which also depended on building ground stations and securing market access country by country. The episode is a reminder that launch supply is a business risk, a theme we also covered in our article on Isar Aerospace reaching orbit and Europe’s push for its own launch capacity.
Why did Eutelsat merge with OneWeb?
Eutelsat’s traditional business, broadcasting television from geostationary satellites, is shrinking. Merging with OneWeb gave it a growth business in low Earth orbit, while OneWeb gained a listed parent with cash flow. The all-share deal closed on 28 September 2023.
A provisional agreement had been signed in July 2022. On completion the combined company became Eutelsat Group, headquartered in Paris and listed on Euronext Paris, with a London listing applied for. OneWeb trades commercially as Eutelsat OneWeb and keeps its operations centre in London. Reuters has described the transaction as a $3.4 billion merger.
The cost to Eutelsat’s existing shareholders was explicit. Advanced Television reported that dividends were cancelled for three years to fund next-generation satellites, and that the share price fell from 8.18 euros around the announcement to about 5.25 euros the day before completion. Management at the time, led by then chief executive Eva Berneke, targeted about 2 billion euros of revenue by 2027. The group’s current guidance, discussed below, is lower than that, which tells you how much harder the transition has been than first presented.
How does Eutelsat OneWeb make money?
It sells connectivity wholesale and to large customers: governments and armed forces, airlines and shipping lines, enterprises, and telecom operators that use satellites to link remote mobile towers. The service needs a dedicated terminal and does not connect directly to phones.
In the group’s accounts, LEO revenue is spread across the connectivity segments. For the year to 30 June 2026 Eutelsat reported Fixed Connectivity of 270.0 million euros, up 15.6% like for like, Government Services of 235.5 million euros, up 17.7%, and Mobile Connectivity of 172.4 million euros, up 15.9%. Together, connectivity reached 677.9 million euros. Video, the legacy broadcasting business, fell 13.1% to 519.2 million euros but is still the largest single segment at about 43% of the total.
| Segment, year to 30 June 2026 | Revenue (million euros) | Like-for-like change |
|---|---|---|
| Video | 519.2 | -13.1% |
| Fixed Connectivity | 270.0 | +15.6% |
| Government Services | 235.5 | +17.7% |
| Mobile Connectivity | 172.4 | +15.9% |
| Operating verticals total | 1,197.1 | +1.8% |
| Of which LEO, across segments | 297.0 | +69.5% |
Government demand is the clearest growth driver. Eutelsat said it had secured the first call-off order under a framework agreement with the French armed forces, and the newest satellites on order are designed to host additional payloads. This positioning is very different from the direct-to-phone model in our AST SpaceMobile company story, and from the consumer subscription business described in the Starlink business story.
What do the FY2025-26 results show?
Group revenue was 1,235.9 million euros, down 0.6% as reported and up 3.0% like for like. Adjusted EBITDA was 632.4 million euros, a 51.2% margin. The group share of the net result was a loss of 457.3 million euros, improved from a loss of 1,081.9 million euros a year earlier.
The operating result was a loss of 220.1 million euros. The prior year had included about 720 million euros of goodwill and satellite impairments, which is the main reason the net loss narrowed. Depreciation and amortization of 699.3 million euros exceeded adjusted EBITDA, a normal pattern for an operator carrying a recently acquired constellation on its balance sheet, and net interest cost was 232.5 million euros.
The balance sheet improved more than the income statement. Net debt fell by about 1.16 billion euros to 1,464.6 million euros, and the ratio of net debt to adjusted EBITDA dropped from 3.88 times to 2.32 times. Backlog stood at 3.4 billion euros, equal to 2.7 years of revenue, with connectivity making up 61% of it. Gross capital expenditure was 593.9 million euros.
For the year to June 2027 management expects LEO revenue to grow more than 30%, operating vertical revenue to grow slightly and the EBITDA margin to stay broadly level. Its longer-range objective for the year to June 2029 is revenue of 1.5 billion to 1.7 billion euros with a margin above 60%. One post-year-end item helps: following a US Federal Communications Commission order on 27 July 2026, Eutelsat expects $504 million of incentive payments for clearing C-band spectrum, which it anticipates receiving during 2031.
How was the 1.5 billion euro capital increase structured?
In two steps. A reserved capital increase of 828 million euros at 4.00 euros per share closed on 21 November 2025, and a rights issue of 669.8 million euros at 1.35 euros per share closed on 9 December 2025. Together they raised about 1.5 billion euros.
Reuters reported that France led the raise, joined by the UK and other anchor investors, and the reserved tranche was priced well above the rights issue. The French state emerged as the largest shareholder. Eutelsat said the rights issue was 133% subscribed, with total demand of 891.6 million euros.
| Shareholder after the transactions | Stake |
|---|---|
| French State (APE) | 29.65% |
| Bharti Space | 17.88% |
| UK Government | 10.89% |
| CMA CGM | 7.46% |
| FSP | 4.99% |
| Public | 29.13% |
The equity was one part of what the company calls a 5 billion euro refinancing package. Net proceeds of 1,469 million euros went largely to reducing debt, and the group reported about 2.3 billion euros of undrawn liquidity plus a 690 million euro export credit facility at year end. The average cost of debt after hedging was 4.37% and average maturity lengthened from 2.5 to 4.2 years. For readers who follow space capital raising, the contrast with venture-backed rounds in our space funding rounds archive is stark: here, sovereign shareholders supplied most of the money and took control in return.
What will the replacement satellites cost?
Eutelsat has ordered 669 OneWeb satellites from Airbus in three steps: 100 in December 2024, 340 in January 2026 and 229 on 10 September 2026. It values the latest order at about 1 billion euros and plans roughly 4 billion euros of total investment between 2026 and 2029.
The first-generation satellites are reaching the end of their design lives, so most of this is replacement spending needed to keep the existing service running, not expansion. Reuters reported that Eutelsat had earlier planned about 2 billion euros to procure and launch the first 440 satellites by 2030. Deliveries from the first 440 are due to begin in the fourth quarter of 2026, and the newest 229 are to be delivered through 2034. Eutelsat says the latest order does not change its capital expenditure plan through its 2029 financial year, and it has guided to about 1.2 billion euros of capital expenditure in the year to June 2027.
The newer satellites add digital channelizers for more flexible onboard processing and can host additional payloads. Reuters reported two Ariane launches booked for 2027 and 2028. Chief executive Jean-Francois Fallacher told Reuters earlier in 2026 that the fleet would exceed 1,000 satellites very soon; that is a statement of intent, not formal guidance. Fleet replacement on this scale is also a market for in-orbit servicing and debris removal companies such as the one in our Astroscale company story.
Where does IRIS2 fit in?
IRIS2 is the European Union’s planned sovereign connectivity constellation. Eutelsat expects to lead its LEO segment, and it describes the OneWeb replacement satellites as a bridge that keeps service continuous until the new system is working.
In its results Eutelsat said the outcome of the programme’s next contractual step was imminent and that it had been confirmed as lead of the LEO segment. In the September 2026 satellite order announcement it said the commercial Ku-band constellation within IRIS2 is expected to be operational by mid-2032 with more than twice OneWeb’s current capacity. Reuters has described the timing more loosely as around the end of the decade, so the dates in circulation differ.
Strategically, this means Eutelsat has chosen not to design a wholly proprietary second-generation system. It is extending the first generation with upgraded satellites and planning to migrate onto shared European infrastructure. That lowers its own capital burden and ties its future to EU funding decisions and schedules. European institutional demand is shaping other contracts too, as seen in our article on ESA’s Nyx cargo contract.
How does Eutelsat OneWeb compare with other satellite businesses?
It sits between two models: far smaller than Starlink in satellites and customers, far larger in revenue and assets than the venture-backed data operators, and unusual in that its largest shareholders are two governments.
Against Starlink, OneWeb cannot compete on consumer price or volume and does not try to. Its argument is sovereignty, service guarantees and integration with geostationary capacity for customers who want a non-US supplier or a multi-orbit package. Against small data companies, such as the one in our Spire Global company story, the difference is capital intensity: Spire’s whole annual revenue is smaller than one month of Eutelsat’s planned capital spending.
Consolidation is the other comparison. Operators across the industry are combining to gain scale and spectrum, as in the transaction we analyzed in Rocket Lab’s acquisition of Iridium. Eutelsat’s merger with OneWeb was an early example, and its results since then show both the growth that a LEO network can add and the years of losses and recapitalization that came with it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is OneWeb still a separate company?
No. It merged with Eutelsat on 28 September 2023 and operates as Eutelsat OneWeb, a subsidiary of Paris-based Eutelsat Group with an operations centre in London.
Does the UK government still own part of OneWeb?
Indirectly. After the December 2025 capital increase the UK government held 10.89% of Eutelsat Group, the parent company. The French state is the largest shareholder with 29.65%.
How many satellites does Eutelsat OneWeb have?
Eutelsat reports more than 600 LEO satellites alongside 31 geostationary satellites. It has 669 new LEO satellites on order from Airbus, with first deliveries due in the fourth quarter of 2026.
Can consumers buy Eutelsat OneWeb service directly?
Not as a mass-market product. The network is sold to governments, enterprises, airlines, shipping companies and telecom operators, usually through distribution partners, and requires a dedicated terminal.
Sources
- Eutelsat Communications, full year 2025-26 results (Business Wire)
- Eutelsat, completion of the 1.5 billion euro capital raise (Business Wire)
- Eutelsat, procurement of a further 229 OneWeb LEO satellites from Airbus
- Reuters via The Star, Eutelsat plans OneWeb expansion after 1 billion euro satellite order
- Mobile World Live, OneWeb rescued by UK and Bharti
- Via Satellite, ISRO launch completes OneWeb Gen 1 constellation
- Advanced Television, Eutelsat and OneWeb complete merger
- TechInformed, OneWeb loses $229m exiting Russia
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