Paris-based Eutelsat is reporting rocketing revenues in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite services, driven partly by an uptick in interest from governments seeking to reduce reliance on US providers.
Increasingly shaky relations with the US have led allied governments to consider alternatives to American vendors. Notably, Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite broadband service has come under scrutiny.
Starlink has proven invaluable following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, allowing connectivity to be maintained even while communication networks have been disrupted. However, recent mixed messaging from US President Donald Trump’s administration has led governments and commercial organizations to consider alternatives, such as Eutelsat.
According to its financial results for fiscal 2025 ended June 30, Eutelsat posted total revenue of €1.244 billion, up 1.6 percent year-on-year. Within this, video revenue fell 6.5 percent to €608 million, but LEO revenue was up 84.1 percent to €186.8 million, and Government Services jumped 24.1 percent to €211 million.
The bounce in sales of Government Services “reflected the growth of LEO-enabled solutions, notably with services delivered in Ukraine, as well as increased demand from other non-US governments,” the satellite operator said.
Eutelsat reported that “Fourth Quarter revenues stood at €65 million, up by 40.9 percent year-on-year and by 37.9 percent quarter-on-quarter.”
It also signed a €1 billion framework agreement with France’s Armed Forces Ministry for LEO satellite services, something Eutelsat said was “showcasing enhanced traction with sovereign customers amid an evolving geopolitical backdrop.”
Then there’s the €1.5 billion capital increase (initially €1.35 billion until the UK got involved in July), which is expected to help Eutelsat grow its LEO network.
Starlink is unlikely to be too concerned at the moment. Eutelsat’s LEO coverage comes mainly from OneWeb, which requires fewer satellites due to their higher orbits compared to Starlink, but these are still vastly outnumbered. In June, CCS Insight research analyst Joe Gardiner told The Register that he doubted Eutelsat/OneWeb was in a position to mount a serious challenge to Starlink.
“With only 650 satellites, [OneWeb] is approximately a tenth of the size of the Starlink constellation,” Gardiner said. “Therefore, to offer greater capacity and coverage, it needs to increase the number of satellites in space, a task made more difficult due to the fact that many of OneWeb’s satellites are nearing the end of their lifespan and will need to be first replaced before growing the constellation’s size.”
Since we spoke to Gardiner, SpaceX has conducted more than ten Starlink launches to build out and replace satellites in its constellation.
Eutelsat noted that it had ordered an initial batch of 100 additional satellites in December 2024, “as well as the procurement of 340 further satellites for the current LEO constellation.” ®