Eutelsat Raises €1.35 Billion to Build Europe’s Starlink Rival

Eutelsat Communications SA is raising €1.35 billion ($1.5 billion) from the French government and other investors in a deal that will help the European company build out its fleet of satellites as an alternative to Elon Musk’s Starlink.

The French government sees Eutelsat as strategically important for the Europe’s sovereignty and the continent’s most viable competitor to Starlink, by far the dominant player in providing internet connections via satellites. Ties between the US and Europe are fraying, and Eutelsat needs the funds to maintain and expand its OneWeb service to have a chance to compete.