• Airbus Defence and Space has been awarded a contract by Eutelsat to manufacture a further 340 low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites for the OneWeb constellation, bringing total recent orders to 440 satellites.
• The production is intended to ensure continuity of broadband services and incorporate upgrades, but wider competitive challenges and unmet launch timing questions remain for European LEO connectivity.
What happened: contract for LEO satellite expansion
Airbus Defence and Space has secured a contract from French satellite operator Eutelsat to build an additional 340 OneWeb low Earth orbit satellites, expanding the company’s global constellation of broadband spacecraft. This award comes on top of a previous batch of 100 satellites ordered in December 2024, raising the total number of contracted spacecraft to 440.
The new satellites will be constructed at Airbus’s facility in Toulouse, France, on a newly established production line specifically intended to support the expanded programme. Deliveries are scheduled to begin from the end of 2026, according to Airbus and Eutelsat statements. The extended fleet will work alongside more than 600 OneWeb satellites already in orbit, which operate in 12 synchronised orbital planes roughly 1,200 km above the Earth, providing broadband connectivity with low latency worldwide.
Design updates for the new satellites include advanced onboard digital channelisers that are expected to improve processing efficiency and flexibility. Eutelsat has also indicated plans to evaluate opportunities for hosted payloads and other commercial use cases beyond the core broadband mission, potentially broadening revenue streams.
Airbus’s Head of Space Systems, Alain Fauré, said the contract reinforces the longstanding relationship between Airbus and Eutelsat, which has extended for more than three decades. Eutelsat’s Chief Executive Officer, Jean-François Fallacher, noted the satellites will support continuity for customers relying on OneWeb’s network, particularly as demand for low-latency broadband grows.
The contract was confirmed on 12 January 2026 by both parties and reflects a broader trend toward satellite broadband infrastructure investment, particularly in competing with dominant networks such as SpaceX’s Starlink constellation.
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Why it’s important
This contract highlights the importance of sustaining and upgrading low Earth orbit broadband networks, which have become central to global connectivity strategies, including reaching underserved and remote regions. Satellite internet services provided by networks such as OneWeb are often positioned as complements to terrestrial broadband, especially in areas where fibre or fixed wireless solutions are less feasible.
However, the deal also underscores challenges facing European actors in a landscape dominated by larger competitors. SpaceX’s Starlink currently operates thousands of satellites and has a considerable head start in market penetration and service availability. In contrast, OneWeb’s near-global network — now supported by Eutelsat — remains smaller in scale and faces constraints in speed of deployment and commercial take-up.
A significant question concerns the timing of deliveries and launch services. While Airbus has outlined manufacturing at Toulouse, successful integration with launch providers and orbital insertion schedules will be critical. Delays or uncertainties in launch manifest contracts could impact the operational continuity that Eutelsat seeks, especially as older satellites reach the end of their service lives.
The investment also feeds into broader discussions about European space sovereignty, a priority for the European Union and individual governments seeking to reduce reliance on non-European aerospace firms and infrastructure. By keeping satellite production in Europe and enhancing local capabilities, Airbus and Eutelsat align with policy goals aimed at regional technological autonomy, though the economic viability of such programmes continues to be scrutinised amid high capital expenditure and competition from well-funded non-European rivals.
Finally, the contract may influence future standards and interoperability in the satellite broadband sector. As OneWeb evolves and supports new payloads or business models, coordination with other networks and regulatory frameworks will be necessary to manage spectrum, orbital slots and cross-service integration, especially as multi-orbit services like the European IRIS² initiative approach deployment in the next decade.
