Satellite operator Eutelsat has signed a contract to build hundreds more OneWeb low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites.

Eutelsat-OneWeb has agreed a new contract with Airbus Defence and Space to build an additional 340 satellites for its OneWeb constellation for an undisclosed sum, bringing its total order with the company to 440, following a batch of 100 announced in December 2024.

“[Airbus] ensure service continuity for the growing number of our customers and distribution partners benefiting from the unparalleled performance of our ubiquitous, low-latency LEO capacity, and enable us to pursue our growth path, building on the 80 percent topline expansion delivered in 2025,” Eutelsat CEO Jean-François Fallacher said in a statement.

Today, OneWeb operates more than 600 satellites flying in 12 synchronized orbital planes at an altitude of 1,200km.

The new 440 will integrate advanced digital channelizers in support of onboard processing capability alongside other flexibility and efficiency improvements. The new satellites have prompted Eutelsat to evaluate opportunities for embarkation capabilities for hosted payloads, enabling new business cases.

The satellites are to be manufactured in Toulouse, an aerospace and deep tech hub in France, and will be delivered starting from the end of 2026. That delivery will ensure continuity of services for customers through a progressive replacement of earlier tranches of satellites.

Eutelsat and OneWeb announced the completion of their all-share combination in September 2023, with the merged entity becoming headquartered in Paris and OneWeb, now a subsidiary, retaining its center of operations in London.

Eutelsat OneWeb operates one of only two operational LEO networks solely operated in Europe, making it a prime destination for new European dual-use technology investment. The company emphasises its “strategic role in critical government-related sectors delivering sovereign-grade connectivity with reliable and secure communications.”

With Starlink approaching its 10,000-satellite milestone early this year, as the FCC authorises 7,500 new satellites to an upper limit of 19,000+, OneWeb’s decision to only now order the rollout to its 1000th satellite, Europe’s path to technological sovereignty can seem quaint.

However, European aspirations for space capability have been solidifying. In December, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Ministerial Council agreed on an expanded budget of 22.3 billion euros ($25.9 billion) through a historic increase in European Member State contributions of 3.5 percent per year beyond inflation.

While that budget’s potential to buy services with Eutelsat-OneWeb is yet to be seen, the spending demonstrates the extent of the continent-wide ambition to back sovereign space capability.