Jean-François Fallacher: “Eutelsat is an instrument of European sovereignty”

What is the size of your fleet, and for what areas of application?

We currently have a fleet of 34 large satellites – the size of a bus – in geostationary orbit 36,000 kilometers from the Earth’s surface. These devices rotate at the same rate as the Earth’s rotation so that a satellite, when placed above a geography, for example above Europe, no longer moves. These satellites are mainly used for television and video broadcasting, on behalf of providers such as Canal+ in France. This historic activity represents half of Eutelsat’s turnover. But uses have evolved. New connection needs require high speeds, over a given area, and immediately. More people watch films or television via digital media than via satellite dishes, at least as far as the American and European markets are concerned.

As a result, and since the 2000s, some of these large geostationary satellites are now dedicated to providing internet access. However, the transmission of data by satellites orbiting 36,000 kilometers from the earth has a limit: the latency time is of the order of 0.6-0.7 seconds, which is a technical constraint for many civil and military uses. We are therefore developing a new constellation of satellites – 650 are in service – in low orbit, located 1,200 kilometers above the earth, of smaller size, which reduce this latency time by 60 thousandths of a second. They are connected to 41 terrestrial antenna fields distributed across different locations around the globe.

Is it this low orbit (LEO) satellite market that is growing strongly today?

Yes, and this is the reason why three years ago we bought the company OneWeb, with which Eutelsat merged, to develop this sector of activity. Today, this market constitutes 20% of our activity and is growing by 60%. It meets the very strong demand for very high-speed internet. The advantage of this technology for customers: reception is done by small, flat antennas, which you can, for example, easily attach to the fuselage of an airplane to provide high-speed wifi to passengers.

“When Elon Musk threatened to cut network coverage services in Ukraine, we put ourselves in a position to replace Starlink”

Your activity has a highly strategic aspect, as revealed by the conflict in Ukraine…

Yes, when Elon Musk threatened to cut network coverage services in Ukraine, we put ourselves in a position to replace Starlink, and today we cover the entire country. We have become, very concretely, an instrument of European sovereignty: France is a 29% shareholder in Eutelsat, Great Britain has 11%.

Did you carry out a capital increase of 1.5 billion euros to meet strong demand?

To be able to continue to have operational services, we had to be able to order a significant number of satellites. Our job requires planning and anticipation, in the design of satellites, but also in the launch programs to put them into orbit. Today, we are in a position to meet this requirement.

Do states make up a significant portion of your customer base?

Half of our clients are media groups in France and abroad – France represents only 7% of our activity. On connectivity, we are suppliers to large companies, data centers, telecom operators, or airlines or maritime companies, based in 180 countries, thanks to a constellation of satellites that covers the entire planet. Governments represent 17% of our customers.

What services do States call on you for?

Either for emergency services or for government and military activities. The situation changed with the war in Ukraine, which demonstrated that civilian equipment can be used for military purposes. This is new and this is what makes our activity highly strategic. Previously, defense ministries in all countries only equipped themselves with strictly military equipment. Today, our civilian constellation, which provides commercial services, is requested by armies. For example, we have just finalized a very large contract with the French Ministry of the Armed Forces. This service is based on network coverage capacity, but also on the integration of encryption capabilities, and finally on the possibility of docking small modules dedicated to an additional surveillance mission with satellites.

“We are working on the creation of a constellation which will have both a private component for us and a state, military, reinforced component”

You are working on the future European constellation of Iris² satellites, can you give us the main points?

With the help of Europe and that of the European Space Agency, we are working on the creation of a constellation which will have both a private component for us, which we will resell, and a reinforced state, military component. It is a very ambitious public-private partnership, the aim of which is to strengthen European sovereignty.

Subsidiary question: what is the lifespan of your satellites and what happens to them once they are out of use?

The lifespan of a satellite is seven years on average. At the end of their life, we deorbit them from our control centers and they disintegrate as they fall back to earth. Those in high orbit are deorbited to go further into space, into a graveyard orbit.