Eutelsat OneWeb
Model of a first generation OneWeb satellite | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Satellite Internet access |
| Predecessor | WorldVu Satellites |
| Founded | 2012 |
| Founder | Greg Wyler |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Eva Berneke (CEO) |
Number of employees | ~600 (March 2022) |
| Parent | Eutelsat Group |
| Subsidiaries | Airbus OneWeb Satellites (50% owner) |
| Website | oneweb |
Eutelsat OneWeb is a subsidiary of the French group Eutelsat providing broadband satellite Internet services in low Earth orbit (LEO). The company has offices in Paris (France), London (UK) and Virginia (US), and satellite manufacturing facilities in Florida and Toulouse – Airbus OneWeb Satellites – that is a joint venture with Airbus Defence and Space.
The company was founded as WorldVu by Greg Wyler in 2012 and later, as OneWeb, launched its first six satellites in February 2019. It entered bankruptcy in March 2020 after failing to raise the required capital to complete the build and deployment of the remaining 90% of the network. The company emerged from the bankruptcy proceedings and reorganisation in November 2020 with a new ownership group. As of 2021, Indian multinational company Bharti Global, France-based satellite service provider Eutelsat and the Government of the United Kingdom were the company's largest shareholders, while Japan's SoftBank retained an equity holding of 12%.
In March 2023, the number of satellites reached 618, enough to provide global coverage. In September 2023, Eutelsat announced the completion of its merger with OneWeb and the creation of a new Eutelsat Group company, with subsidiaries Eutelsat and Eutelsat OneWeb.