Europe steps up satellite capabilities amid doubts over Starlink (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg's 6-minute report (March 2025, 428,000 views) on Europe looking at Eutelsat OneWeb as a sovereign alternative to Starlink after the US paused support to Ukraine. We add what Europe actually did next: the IRIS² contracts and the 229-satellite OneWeb order of September 2026.
In this video
Bloomberg Television published this 6 minute 18 second segment on 6 March 2025; it has about 428,000 views. Per its description, it covers why "alternatives to Starlink, such as Eutelsat, are being considered for secure satellite-based communications in Europe", after the US paused military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine, and includes Eutelsat's CEO at the time. It is a financial-news piece: the emphasis is on Eutelsat's share price, capacity and whether OneWeb could substitute for Starlink in Ukraine.
Why it matters for a business buyer
The episode marked the moment "sovereign connectivity" moved from policy papers to procurement. What followed, as of September 2026:
- At the International Space Summit in Paris (9 to 15 September 2026) Eutelsat ordered 229 additional OneWeb Gen 1.5 satellites from Airbus, taking the contracted next-generation fleet to 669, and set a target of about 1,300 active OneWeb satellites by 2030.
- Europe's IRIS² multi-orbit constellation moved to contracts: Aerospacelab (Belgium) as prime contractor for the LEO segment, 264 platforms for 2.4 billion euros; Airbus for 66 Ka-band LEO satellites due in 2029; Thales Alenia Space for the payloads of all 330 satellites. Full service is expected around 2032, with OneWeb bridging until then.
- Starlink meanwhile kept growing in Europe: the European Starlink listing counts 66 providers in our directory, and Belgium's market is covered in our Belgium guide.
For a European enterprise or public body the practical consequence is a genuine two-vendor LEO market: Starlink for price, coverage and ease of purchase, OneWeb (through its distributors) where a non-US operator, committed capacity or a government frame contract is required. Dual-sourcing both is now a common design for critical sites.
Watch this if
You need the political and financial context behind a European customer's insistence on OneWeb or IRIS² in a tender, or a short primer for a board on why the question exists. Pair it with Eutelsat's own constellation explainer for the technical side.
Go further
Definitions: OneWeb / Eutelsat, dual-use civil and defence, defence and government vertical, multi-orbit networking. Directories: OneWeb providers, Starlink in Belgium.
Find a provider
The listings this resource is relevant to — every company is profiled with services, coverage and contact details.
Keep reading
Amazon Leo for business (2026): network status, antennas, partners and how to buy it
Amazon Leo, formerly Project Kuiper, had 396 satellites in orbit on 28 October 2026 and plans initial service in certain latitudes before the end of…
How to become a Starlink authorized reseller in 2026 (and the routes that remain open)
Starlink no longer accepts reseller applications: the programme is invite-only and indirect reselling on Local Priority plans was paused in April…
Satellite internet beyond Starlink: LEO, MEO, GEO and L-band options compared (2026)
Starlink sells residential service in 154 countries, but companies, fleets and governments also buy Eutelsat OneWeb (about 650 LEO satellites…
Related resources
Eutelsat's OneWeb LEO constellation, explained by Eutelsat (video)
Eutelsat's own 2.5-minute explainer (July 2026) of the OneWeb constellation: 600+ satellites in 12 polar planes at 1,200 km, Ka-band gateways and Ku-band user links, sold to enterprises, governments, ships and aircraft through distributors rather than direct. Context: the September 2026 order of 229 more satellites and the IRIS² transition.
Mega-constellations in three minutes: O3b mPOWER, OneWeb and Starlink
A concise academic explainer (November 2023) of non-geostationary constellations, comparing SES's O3b mPOWER in medium Earth orbit with OneWeb and Starlink in low Earth orbit, made alongside a Frontiers paper on connecting space missions through NGSO constellations. Good for the orbit and orbital-plane basics.
Starlink vs Amazon Kuiper vs OneWeb: the 2020 comparison (Found And Explained)
An 8-minute 2020 explainer comparing the three LEO broadband projects as they were planned: Starlink, Amazon's Kuiper and OneWeb, then in bankruptcy. Useful as a time capsule; we score the predictions against the 2026 reality: 11,000+ Starlink satellites working, 398 Amazon Leo launched, OneWeb at 600+ under Eutelsat.