# OneWeb OneWeb is a network of roughly 600 internet satellites in low Earth orbit, owned by the French satellite operator Eutelsat. It is the only operating Western alternative to [[Starlink]] at global scale, and it has been rescued, owned or backed by governments at almost every stage of its life. Its main shareholders are the French state, the British state and India's Bharti group. ## Founded, bankrupted, bought by Britain OneWeb was founded in 2012 by the American entrepreneur Greg Wyler and raised billions from investors including [[SoftBank]]. In March 2020, as the pandemic hit and its funding ran out, it filed for bankruptcy. In July 2020, the British government and India's Bharti Global bought it out of bankruptcy for about $1 billion, half of it British taxpayer money. The deal was pushed by [[Boris Johnson]]'s government, with backing from his adviser [[Dominic Cummings]], as a way to give post-[[Brexit]] Britain a space capability of its own after it lost full access to the EU's Galileo navigation system. Critics pointed out that OneWeb's satellites were designed for internet service, not navigation, so the purchase did not solve the problem that had been used to justify it. ## Cut off by Russia OneWeb launched most of its early satellites on Russian [[Soyuz]] rockets. In March 2022, after Russia invaded [[Ukraine]], Russia's space chief demanded that the British government sell its stake and that OneWeb promise its satellites would never be used for military purposes. OneWeb refused. Its satellites waiting in Kazakhstan were never launched, and the company took a loss of more than $200 million. It finished its network in 2023 using [[SpaceX]]'s [[Falcon 9]] and rockets from India's space agency. ## Merged into Eutelsat, backed by Paris and London In September 2023, OneWeb merged with Eutelsat, a French operator of large satellites in high orbit. The combined company struggled with debt. In 2025 the French state led a €1.5 billion capital raise, with Britain and Bharti also putting in money, which made France the largest shareholder at about 30 percent. In February 2026, Eutelsat secured about €1 billion in bank financing, guaranteed by the French state, to help pay for 440 new-generation satellites from Airbus. Those satellites are due to start delivery in late 2026. ## Ukraine As [[Elon Musk]]'s personal control over Starlink in Ukraine became a political issue, including his March 2025 remark that Ukraine's front line would collapse if he turned the service off, European governments looked to Eutelsat OneWeb as a replacement for Ukrainian military communications. The company's network is much smaller than Starlink's and its terminals are less widely deployed, so it could not simply step in. The episode is one major reason European governments became willing to spend public money on the company. ## Why it's on the map OneWeb is what it looks like when governments decide a market with one dominant supplier is a national-security problem. Britain bought it partly for post-Brexit pride, Russia used it as a hostage, and France and Britain are now funding it as insurance against depending on Musk. Its future is tied to the EU's [[IRIS²]] network, which Eutelsat is helping to build. Whether a state-backed, much smaller network can stay relevant against Starlink's scale is one of the main tests of European "strategic autonomy" in space. ## See also - [[Starlink]] · [[Elon Musk]] — the dominant competitor - [[IRIS²]] — the EU constellation Eutelsat is part of - [[Amazon Leo]] — the other Western Starlink rival - [[United Kingdom]] · [[France]] — its government owners - [[Arianespace]] · [[Roscosmos]] — the 2022 launch crisis - [[Space Hub]] — the parent hub