Eutelsat seeks €1.35B to boost LEO network and take the fight to Starlink Satellite biz Eutelsat is looking to raise €1.35 billion ($1.55 billion) to grow its Low Earth Orbit (LEO) network to take on Starlink and benefit from anticipated growth in demand for connectivity. The French-owned satellite operator said it is looking to raise capital by the end of the year. It aims to accomplish this via a …
"OneWeb is not fit for purpose."
Not fit for purpose, or just a bit sub standard (old?).
Either way, if you want to go down this route, having a functioning starting point that is not in the pocket of Mad Musk and his mate Dr Donnie gives you a good base and the oportunity to learn from the first generation deficiencies.
Or am I missing something here?
Either way, if you want to go down this route, having a functioning starting point that is not in the pocket of Mad Musk and his mate Dr Donnie gives you a good base and the oportunity to learn from the first generation deficiencies.
The biggest (IMHO) deficiency OneWeb had was their sales strategy, or lack thereof. If I want a Starlink service, I can just order it online. When I wanted to develop a service where I could bundle a fixed line with satellite backup, all they could offer was a list of partners and had nothing in the way of channel tools, sales support etc. So I wasn't suprised when they went bust. Hopefully Eutelsat has more clue or they won't get very far trying to hit the business market.
The one and only advantage of direct to consumer satellite internet in LEO is lower latency. If you don't need tiny ping times so you can waste a day gaming, there are several other options from birds sitting out in GSO.
I don't compete with the run 'n gun competition around me on price. It's pointless and those service providers are here today and gone tomorrow when they find out that while customers love a low price, they still want responsive service done correctly. When I get somebody asking for a discount based on some claim of somebody else charging much less, I politely tell them to go for it and I'll still be here when they need more service or that other vendor suddenly folds up. A large number of those potential customers do call me back. The ones that don't have often left the industry as well.
Starlink has the advantage that they are getting launch services at cost. With a five year aspirational life of the Starlink satellites, once they have the full constellation in place, they'll need Starship to be popping replacement birds into orbit a couple of times per week. Maybe even more due to orbital mechanics. That's a load of money for maintenance and a big reason why Starlink may never be profitable, all-in. Certainly not if they spin it off and have to pay SpaceX a profit on each launch.
There are about 7,600 Starlink tin-thingies/ orbiting junk hazard things up there and they are lofting another 25+ish like clockwork and without things going unusually bang every few days. In the unlikely event this was ever to become a vaguely serious competitor SpaceX would just buy them, end of story.
"In the unlikely event this was ever to become a vaguely serious competitor SpaceX would just buy them, end of story."
Where would the get the money?
Would there be an anti-monopoly hearing required?
Elon doesn't fund SpaceX. They do 1-2 rounds of funding every year to keep the doors open so they aren't flushed with cash from "profits".
Even with a large chunk of the market due mainly to people not realizing there have been other satellite internet providers for ages, SpaceX may not be able to make money with the constellation. They have been able to sell services in more places than just individual users which helps quite a bit, but perhaps not enough. Initially they were launching 60 sats at a time and now due to size, can only fit 25ish at a time with no indication that they've dropped the cost per bird from $500,000 to the aspirational $250,000ea. The ground stations cost the same and the consumer hardware may only be slightly cheaper.
25 birds @ $500k each is $12.5 million. A launch is ~~$30 million cost (not what they charge others), so each tranche cost over $1.5mn ea. Subscriptions are all the market will bear so more in the first world and less in developing areas. In out of the way places that are buying larger bandwidth for resale, the price is discounted. Penciling out the numbers and using the aspiration lifetime of each satellite of 5years. It's hard to see profits for the trees. Government contracts at 5x mark up? It's not money from Lauren Landers (26) doing a solo Pacific crossing in her sail boat with her cat, Mako. ( a plug for her YouTube channel ).
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