Nice Britain and France come behind EUR 1.5 billion in an effort to enhance the rivals of Europe to Starlink

According to reports, the British government is planning to invest EUR 163 million in the French satellite company Eutelsat When Europe pushes back a local alternative to Elon Musks Starlink.

The investment that first reported by Reutersfollows the management of the French state, which is supposed to insert €717 mn in Eutelsat As part of A 1.35 billion € Financing package to support the indebted satellite communication provider. The British contribution would bring Eutelsat's recapitalization too around 1.5 billion €.

French President Emmanuel Macron thanked his “British friends” for the support in A Post on Xwithout disclosing the value of the deal.

Eutelsat was very important this year In UkraineWhich has become very dependent on the service in his war with Russia.

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The French company operates the third largest satellite communication fleet 653 satellites creeps up the earth and circle around 1,200 km above the surface. The Company Previously TNW told In Europe it offers the same coverage and latency functions as Starlink.

In June, French Finance Minister Eric Lombard described the investment of his country as part of his more comprehensive ambitions to build up a competitive, resistant and sovereign space industry.

“This transaction reflects our strong commitment to a great player in satellite confectionality – a strategic sector in the heart of the digital sovereignty of Europe,” he said.

The financing offers Eutelsat an urgently needed rescue line that, according to its own financial report, had net debt of € 2.6 billion. It could also help the company to use contributions Iris2, a European public private The satellite internet constellation is expected to switch on in 2030.

Iris2 is a European attempt to create a really sovereign satellite communication system. The constellation will build on Eutelsat's existing fleet and the SES, a satellite company from Luxembourg.

Lombard said the Iris2 project would be A “key column” of Europe's autonomy in space. However, the scheme will be entered into one increasingly crowded Satellite communication market.