The SpaceX logo is displayed on a mobile phone for illustration photos.
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Eutelsat, the world’s third-largest satellite operator by revenue, launched 20 satellites for its communications network on Sunday, using Elon Musk’s SpaceX in its first move since the two European companies merged last year.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket came out From Vandenberg Space Force Base in California with Eutelsat satellites at 0513 GMT.
“This is the first OneWeb launch of satellites,” CEO Eva Berneke told Reuters in an interview. “We will be launching more satellites in the coming years.”
The Paris-based group, which was created by the merger of France’s Eutelsat and Great Britain’s OneWeb in September last year, has a constellation of more than 600 low-earth orbit satellites that serve broadcasters, telecommunications companies and radio stations.
“We really want to integrate it into the telecom ecosystem,” said Berneke. “Satellites are an interesting niche in the overall connectivity ecosystem where telcos are the big boys in the class and satellite will always be the smaller part.”
Eutelsat counts telecom operators such as France’s Orange and Australia’s Telstra as customers and is in talks with others such as AT&T in the US.
The company, which has orders worth $4 billion, is waiting for countries like India and Saudi Arabia to open up.
India – a market that will grow 36% annually to 1.9 billion dollars by 2030 – is in the process of authorizing satellite services. He has lived friction between domestic players and companies like Starlink.
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“Some of our backlog is sitting in the Indian market … until India opens, the day it opens, we’ll start building,” Berneke said.
The company is also in talks with aviation companies to offer in-flight connectivity, including internet browsing, and hopes to start increasing revenue from next year, he said.
