Doubling-down on its investment in LEO-constellation contender OneWeb, Eutelsat has agreed to contribute an additional US$165 million. This transaction will result in Eutelsat owning a 22.9 per cent stake (up from 17.6 per cent) in the company. The French FSS satellite operator will be the second-largest shareholder after Indian multinational conglomerate Bharti Global, with 30 per cent.
In June Bharti Global announced that it would exercise a call option to invest an additional US$500 million into OneWeb. This 6 October decision by Eutelsat will see it compensate Bharti Global for part of this sum, resulting in both entities increasing their stakes.
OneWeb has so far conducted six missions this year, each launching between 34 and 36 satellites. This pace has it on course to provide limited service by the end of the year and to complete its planned fleet during 2022. Its next mission was due to take off on 14 October from Vostochny Cosmodrome, Russia.
