French President Emmanuel Macron has said the UK will follow France with a new investment in European satellite operator Eutelsat.
Macron, who is currently on a two-day State Visit to the UK, posted on X “Thank you to our British friends for fully joining us in the next chapter of the Eutelsat adventure.”
Eutelsat is seen as the European vehicle to compete with Elon Musk’s Starlink.
Earlier, Les Echos had reported the UK would invest €163 million in Eutelsat, in a move that would prevent the UK’s long-held share being diluted by the recent recapitalisation.
In June, the French state bolstered its own stake in Eutelsat as part of a €1.35 billion capital increase. The French military then agreed a 10-year deal to buy satellite communications services from OneWeb, which like Starlink delivers connectivity to business and government from the increasingly strategic region of low earth orbit.
OneWeb was originally bailed out by the UK Government before being sold on to Eutelsat.
