Eutelsat and Station Satcom sign agreement to scale LEO services for maritime fleet
MILAN – French-led satellite operator Eutelsat and Indian maritime service provider Station Satcom have signed a multi-year agreement to expand Eutelsat-owned OneWeb LEO connectivity services across Station Satcom's maritime fleet, the companies announced April 30.
The agreement builds on a previous activation in 2025 covering hundreds of Station Satcom vessels and broadens the number of ships using OneWeb services to more than 1,000.
The companies plan to begin services starting in 2026, with deployments ramping up in subsequent years. "It is a question of gradually equipping the additional vessels with the terminals in order to be able to activate services," Joanna Darlington, chief communications officer at Eutelsat, told SpaceNews.
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The OneWeb LEO constellation comprises about 650 satellites, the first batches of which were launched in 2019. Eutelsat has recently procured 440 replacement satellites from Airbus, to be launched from late 2026 through 2028–29 "to secure service continuity for the constellation," Darlington added.
Eutelsat-OneWeb has focused its strategy on governmental and industrial clients, with maritime connectivity as one of its core segments.
Darlington explained that the company expects demand for LEO capacity to drive comparable growth across its three sectors: fixed connectivity, mobile connectivity (maritime, aero, rail) and government services.
"With the advent of low-latency, ubiquitous LEO capacity, satellite is more than ever playing a pivotal role in advancing the maritime industry through technology-driven solutions. This is true of the maritime connectivity market and also applies to all other services delivered by Eutelsat, including aero mobility, fixed connectivity, and government services."
Eutelsat OneWeb is a subsidiary of the French group Eutelsat. Founded as WorldVu in 2012 and later renamed OneWeb, the company entered bankruptcy in March 2020 and became part of Eutelsat in 2021. Its largest shareholders include Bharti Global, Eutelsat and the U.K. government.
In June 2025, Eutelsat received a $1.56 billion capital injection from the French government, which became the company's largest shareholder with a 30% stake. The company also secured an additional $191 million from the U.K. government to support the OneWeb constellation. In January 2026, Eutelsat planned to sell its ground infrastructure to a private equity firm, but the deal was blocked by the French government, which considers the ground segment strategic for national defense.
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