SpaceX rival Eutelsat signs launch deal for future OneWeb satellites

SpaceX rival Eutelsat said Friday it has signed an agreement with French startup MaiaSpace to launch future low Earth orbit satellites in space, adding a new European option to its launch plans.

The multi-launch deal is due to begin in 2027. Financial terms were not disclosed. MaiaSpace is a subsidiary of ArianeGroup, Europe’s largest rocket manufacturer.

Eutelsat said MaiaSpace will complement its existing launch partners. Arlen Kassighian, the company’s chief engineering officer, said the agreement broadens access to launch capacity as demand for satellite deployment grows.

Eutelsat owns OneWeb, the only operational low Earth orbit satellite constellation outside of Elon Musk’s Starlink network. LEO satellites orbit closer to Earth than traditional satellites, which reduces signal delay and improves internet speed.

OneWeb is viewed as a strategic asset by the French and British governments, two of Eutelsat’s largest shareholders. Its network provides secure broadband services to governments, armed forces, companies and users in remote or poorly connected regions.

French President Emmanuel Macron has urged Europe to strengthen its space capabilities to reduce reliance on U.S. providers. He said this week that France would speed up the use of LEO satellite constellations.

MaiaSpace is developing a partially reusable small rocket designed to lower launch costs and increase launch frequency. Reusable rockets can fly multiple times, reducing the need to build a new vehicle for each mission.

SpaceX has relied on this approach for more than a decade with its Falcon 9 rocket and is testing Starship, a larger system designed to be fully reusable. Europe’s Ariane 6 rocket, by contrast, is not reusable.

SpaceX’s launch pace has allowed it to place more than 9,000 Starlink satellites into orbit. Eutelsat has recently used SpaceX and India’s space agency for launches. OneWeb previously relied on Russia’s Soyuz rockets before ending that partnership after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Eutelsat, which acquired OneWeb in 2023, plans to deploy 440 new low Earth orbit satellites built by Airbus in the coming years, underscoring how SpaceX rival Eutelsat is expanding European launch options as MaiaSpace prepares for commercial operations in 2026.