European satellite operator Eutelsat has secured a €138 million contract from France’s Ministry of the Armed Forces under a €1 billion framework agreement signed in June 2025.
The 10-year framework agreement with France’s defence procurement agency, the DGA, covers priority access to capacity on Eutelsat’s OneWeb constellation, a constellation of more than 600 satellites in low Earth orbit that delivers low-latency connectivity, to bolster the French Armed Forces’ access to secure communications.
The agreement is intended to supplement France’s Syracuse IV military communications constellation while also providing a bridging capability until Europe’s IRIS2 system comes online in the 2030s. The DGA explained that the deal reflects “the urgency of the international situation,” which required a stopgap between France’s current capabilities and what IRIS2 will eventually provide.
On 15 June, the DGA announced CENTAURE, the first “call-off contract” under the €1 billion framework agreement. The contract includes a firm commitment of €138 million over four years, with the possibility of that amount increasing to €350 million over eight years.
According to a 15 June Eutelsat press release, the contract includes provisions for capacity across multiple areas of strategic interest to the French Armed Forces. The contract also allows for enhancements to the security of the OneWeb service, although the release did not specify what those enhancements would entail.
“Recent conflicts have demonstrated the critical importance of diverse, secure, resilient and sovereign connectivity for the conduct of modern operations,” said Patrick Pailloux, DGA Director General for Armaments. “By relying on a trusted European solution that is immediately available and provides global low-latency coverage, the French Ministry of the Armed Forces and Veterans is acquiring the necessary resources to address today’s operational challenges while laying the groundwork for the future sovereign European capabilities that will be delivered through the IRIS2 programme.”
This recent contract, alongside France’s direct investment in Eutelsat, is part of a wider European push for sovereign space-based communications. This push is being driven by growing unease over the continent’s reliance on US commercial providers, particularly SpaceX’s Starlink service, whose role in Ukraine demonstrated both the value of the capability and the vulnerability of depending on a commercial network outside European control.
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