The CEO of European satellite operator Eutelsat stated that demand for alternative satellite services from U.S. businesses and the Pentagon remains strong. This confidence comes despite SpaceX’s request to U.S. regulators to limit access for European rivals.
In a letter sent to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on April 16, Elon Musk’s SpaceX urged the FCC to restrict market access for foreign satellite operators. SpaceX argued that this should apply to companies whose governments block or disadvantage U.S. operators.
SpaceX specifically pointed to Luxembourg-based SES as an example of a European operator that has benefited from access to the U.S. market. However, it did not explicitly name other European operators like Eutelsat. SpaceX also called on the U.S. telecoms watchdog to respond in kind to actions like the EU Space Act and Digital Networks Act proposals. SpaceX claims these proposals would create barriers for U.S. firms in European markets.
“Obviously, we are conscious of the new geopolitical environment… it’s not a surprise that American companies are lobbying for less regulation,” Eutelsat CEO Jean-Francois Fallacher commented. He added, “European space law is going in the right direction. We want to protect space, we want to actually look carefully at the way space is safe. We all know that there will be the need for more coordination in space.”
Eutelsat, which has backing from the French and British governments, is the main European competitor to Musk’s Starlink. Last year, the company noted a slowdown in some Pentagon contract renewals due to wider government spending cuts from President Donald Trump’s administration.
However, Fallacher emphasized that U.S. demand has not decreased. Eutelsat serves commercial, government, and military clients, providing satellite services to the U.S. Department of Defense through a proxy company. “We have appetite in the U.S,” he said. “Both businesses and the Department of Defense have appetite for alternative solutions – for reliability and redundancy purposes.” The company is also in discussions with governments and other customers, including those in the U.S., about hosting Earth observation and communication payloads on its satellites.
