Macron's Space Play: France, Eutelsat, and the Future of European Connectivity

Macron's Visit to ESA Signals France's Space Ambitions

Credit: The Space Republic

On June 20, 2025, French President Emmanuel Macron paid a highly symbolic visit to ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher during the International Paris Air Show.

A sitting President meeting the ESA Director General speaks volumes. It signals not just support for ESA but a clear intent: France is positioning itself as the leader of Europe's space sector. For comparison, during the International Astronautical Congress in Milan last October, Italy sent its Minister for Made in Italy, Francesco D’Urso—who notably does not speak English—to represent the country’s space sector. It says a lot about priorities.

The timing wasn’t coincidental. The visit came just 24 hours after France announced it would inject €717 million into satellite operator Eutelsat, leading a €1.35 billion capital raise that will push the French state's stake to an unprecedented 29.9%. This move makes the French Government the company’s largest shareholder, surpassing India’s Bharti Space Limited at 18.7% (also participating in the capital raise) and dwarfing the UK’s holding, now diluted to 7.9% (Brexit keeps giving).

The French Government’s decision to back Eutelsat carries different weight depending on whether you look at it through a strictly operational lens—or through the wider geopolitical long game.

A €1.35 Billion Question

Operationally, Eutelsat needed the funds to rejuvenate its aging constellation. In 2024, Eutelsat ordered 100 satellites from Airbus Defence and Space to start replenishing its OneWeb LEO constellation. A second tranche of 340 satellites was already planned, provided Eutelsat could secure the necessary cash flow. The estimated capex for this operation is €1.2 billion.

So, strictly speaking, the France-Bharti cash injection is about keeping the constellation afloat, not giving it a competitive edge against Starlink. Every time European LEO constellations receive public support, it's declared as a move to create competition for Starlink. The truth is less flattering.

Eutelsat isn’t a commercial rival to Starlink. It predates Starlink by decades—founded in 1977—and today operates 35 geostationary satellites and, via OneWeb (which merged with Eutelsat in 2023), 648 LEO satellites. That’s a modest fleet compared to Starlink’s 7,800+ and counting. Moreover, Starlink enjoys a built-in economic advantage: SpaceX launches its satellites in-house, slashing costs. Eutelsat, like OneWeb and Amazon’s Kuiper, depends on third-party launch providers—often SpaceX itself.

“Starlink is beyond competition reach,” says Pierre Lionnet, Research Director at ASD-Eurospace. “It has blanketed the B2C and B2B markets for satellite broadband. At end-2024, our most conservative estimate puts Starlink's total Capex between $10 and $12 billion for space infrastructure. On top of that, Starlink has likely spent $6 to $8 billion on terminal production, partly recouped through sales. We’re talking upwards of $20 billion invested—the largest commercial space infrastructure project ever. The total Capex associated with OneWeb is about $6 billion.”

But maybe size isn’t everything.

Eutelsat's Geopolitical Weight

Direct commercial competition may not be the point. The EU's IRIS² constellation, where Eutelsat holds a stake, will dedicate only 20-30% of its network to secure government communications.

“OneWeb,” adds Lionnet, “is increasingly focused on providing a B2G solution—filling a niche for governments that don't want to work with Starlink.”

This strategy reflects geopolitical realities beyond Europe. Countries like Taiwan, Vietnam, and India have voiced concerns about over-reliance on U.S. satellite services. Though, in India’s case, the strategy is classic: invest in Eutelsat, negotiate with Starlink, keep options open (see Airtel's dance with both).

For sensitive military or government applications, a smaller, European-controlled constellation might suffice—assuming European governments trust European technology more than American alternatives. That remains an open question.

Why France Cares About Eutelsat

Beyond rescuing national industry, why did France decide to save Eutelsat? The answer lies in France’s broader ambitions—and its well-documented discomfort with dependence on U.S. infrastructure for critical services. Ongoing geopolitical uncertainty—from the Ukraine war to fluctuating transatlantic relations—has only reinforced that stance.

In that light, building a robust, France-backed satellite network for secure connectivity—nationally, and potentially for other European governments—makes strategic sense.

Today, Eutelsat-OneWeb represents Europe’s only viable alternative to Starlink and Kuiper. Both those constellations are commercially competitive, but they ultimately fall under U.S. private (and therefore political) influence.

Was it worth bailing out Eutelsat? From Paris' perspective, absolutely. British frustrations over OneWeb shifting from an Anglo-French venture to a French-dominated one? Not France’s problem. German passivity, post-Merkel, in space matters? France filled the void. Meloni’s discomfort with Macron? Not a deterrent.

Regardless of the economics, France is playing the long, strategic game.

A Space Leadership Built on Decades of Investment

France's Eutelsat investment is the latest chapter in a strategy decades in the making—back when spending billions on Space technology was considered visionary, not desperate.

The French space agency CNES operates with an annual budget of €2.37 billion, comfortably outpacing Germany's DLR at €1.876 billion (2023 data) and Italy’s ASI at €1.2 billion.

Since 2010, Paris has steadily funded innovation in strategic sectors. CNES alone received €609.5 million under the “Programme d'Investissements d'Avenir” (PIA) to foster 18 new space technology projects. During the pandemic, an additional €365 million supported the sector. The 2021 France 2030 plan earmarked €1.5 billion for space, targeting reusable launchers, constellations, and key industrial segments.

Space is just one facet of a broader autonomy strategy. France has pursued energy sovereignty via nuclear investments (EDF, Framatome), nationalized EDF to regain control of critical infrastructure, backed semiconductor production (STMicroelectronics), and aligned with EU-level efforts like the European Chips Act, IRIS², and the EU Battery Alliance.

France’s approach isn’t flawless. Critics argue it prioritizes national industry over European collaboration. The country's vigorous defense of the Ariane 6 launcher back in the early 2010s, despite questions about its commercial competitiveness, has drawn criticism from European partners who suspect France prefers protecting its aerospace workforce to winning in international markets.

But uncomfortable truths remain: France invested where others hesitated. And now, it's reaping geopolitical leverage.

What Success and Failure Look Like

The success or failure of France’s Eutelsat gambit will ripple through European space policy. Success could stimulate demand for European launch services, potentially helping address the classic chicken-and-egg problem facing the rocket industry: prices are too high because volume is too low, and volume is too low because prices are too high.

Failure, on the other hand, would be spectacularly expensive. A struggling Eutelsat would drag down IRIS² development, erode confidence in European alternatives to U.S. services, and cost France serious political capital.

The Takeaway: Like It or Not, It’s France

Love them or hate them, the French have done the math, taken the risk, and placed their bets. Eutelsat is now the test case for Europe’s strategic autonomy in space.

And if this is France’s moment? So be it.