Eutelsat says it would welcome launches from Portugal

Eutelsat would be willing to launch satellites from Portugal if suitable launch capacity becomes available, CEO Jean-François Fallacher told ECO in an interview, a sign that Portugal could play a bigger role in Europe’s space industry as demand for launch sites grows.

Fallacher said the French satellite operator is “agnostic” about where its satellites are launched from and is focused instead on securing launchers with enough capacity. He said Eutelsat needs more launchers and more spaceports, adding: “we would be very happy to launch from Portugal.”

The executive was in Portugal to announce an agreement with Meo to resell connectivity services based on Eutelsat’s low-earth-orbit OneWeb constellation. He said Eutelsat already has 15 OneWeb antennas installed at Meo’s Alfouvar teleport in Sintra, and that this gives the company a strong knowledge of the Portuguese operator’s capabilities.

Fallacher also said Meo and Thales in Portugal have the right conditions to succeed in their bid to provide gateway services to the SpaceRise consortium for the EU-backed IRIS 2 constellation, although the final decision will involve the European Commission, the European Space Agency and consortium partners. He said that decision should probably be taken before the end of the first half of next year.

Eutelsat is the largest investor in SpaceRise, according to Fallacher, and plans to invest more than €3 billion in IRIS 2 as part of a total project budget of €15.9 billion. The first satellites in that constellation are due to be launched in 2030, he said, with the system intended to support both government and commercial services.

Originally published at Eco.pt