European satellite firm Eutelsat has outlined plans for a new low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite fleet.

Via WorldVu Satellites Limited, Eutelsat has filed plans for Eutelsat Next, a planned non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite system, with the FCC.

The fleet will consist of a constellation of 528 LEO satellites, plus in-orbit spares, with an altitude of 1,220km, as well as associated ground control facilities and gateway earth stations.

“Eutelsat Next is designed to expand the company’s ability to provide secure, resilient, high-speed, high-capacity communications services around the world,” the company says in the filing. “Eutelsat Next would build upon the success of OneWeb by providing Eutelsat with additional capacity to provide advanced communications services to customers around the world.”

Set to work alongside Eutelsat’s existing OneWeb fleet of LEO satellites, Eutelsat Next will use Ku-band for the radio frequency (RF) links between the satellites and user terminals, and Ka-band for the RF links between the satellites and gateway earth stations.

The company said the satellites will be capable of producing up to 140 Ku user beams, have on-board processing, and may make use of optical inter-satellite links for optimal routing.

“Eutelsat’s existing NGSO constellation, the OneWeb NGSO system, provides advanced broadband satellite connectivity to customers in the United States and around the world using over six hundred satellites,” the company says in the filings. “This state-of-the-art NGSO system allows Eutelsat to serve even the most remote portions of the Earth and to actively deploy products and expand partnerships to enable a range of fixed and mobility applications—including portable, maritime, vehicle, and aircraft.”

The satellites will be de-orbited at the end of their useful lifespan, generally within five years after the end of their mission.

Eutelsat Next will use approximately 50 gateway earth stations worldwide, including six currently operated in the US for its OneWeb fleet. Full details of the planned ground station network weren’t shared.

Eutelsat completed its all-share combination with LEO operator OneWeb in September 2023, creating a merged entity that possessed a multi-orbit fleet of satellites. The combined company has more than 30 geostationary satellites in operation and around 600 machines in LEO.

Eutelsat awarded Airbus Defence and Space a contract to build a further 340 OneWeb low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, adding to the 100 previously contracted, to “ensure operational continuity” of the existing OneWeb constellation. Deliveries are due to start at the end of the year.

OneWeb has dozens of ground station sites live globally to serve its LEO fleet. At the same time, Eutelsat has a large portfolio of its own ground stations for its Geostationary fleet.

Eutelsat was set to carve out its ground station infrastructure into a separate company after signing an $831m sale-leaseback deal with EQT, but the French government blocked the deal earlier this year.