Eutelsat shares surge on deal with French armed forces
Shares in French satellite operator Eutelsat shot 10% higher on Thursday after it said it had signed a 10-year deal with the French government to provide connectivity for the country's armed forces. Under the €1 billion ($1.15 billion) agreement, the French military will have priority access to OneWeb satellites as well as operational and security maintenance, the company said in a statement late Wednesday. The deal also covers the upgrading of satellites for military-grade use, it said. Eutelsat shares climbed as much as 21% in early trade before paring some gains by late morning. Eutelsat has garnered unprecedented attention this year from European governments looking for alternatives to SpaceX's Starlink for internet connectivity.
There is a "real appetite" for sovereignty across the industry, CEO Jean-Francois Fallacher said at the Paris Air Show this week, according to an Eutelsat post on X.
France's Ministry of the Armed Forces said in a statement that the agreement was part of a programme to strengthen its space communications by supplementing its Syracuse military satellites which are in higher geostationary orbit with a constellation of satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO).
"While not entirely unexpected, the deal is a clear positive for Eutelsat, reaffirming the growing strategic relevance of LEO and the EU's push for sovereign satellite capabilities independent of foreign players like Starlink," said Alessandro Cuglietta, analyst at Kepler Cheuvreux.
The French ministry also said the deal underlines the importance and strategic nature of Europe's
IRIS² programme
, which is an EU-backed satellite constellation due to launch in 2030.
The deal will also shore up Eutelsat's finances as it works on raising funds for a second generation of its
LEO satellites
and to fulfil its commitments to the IRIS² project.
It needs more than three times the satellites than previously thought, requiring up to €2.2 billion in financing.
($1 = €0.8721)
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