The overall sentiment at the Novaspace Paris World Space Business Week was one of optimism. Just about every sector talked about growing order books and increased demand for capacity especially from Government and Military customers.

All the heavyweight operators spoke of growing confidence in their businesses. SES, fresh with its Intelsat acquisition, is looking to expand, putting fresh cash into a new MEO fleet as well as extremely interesting laser links with its satellites. Telesat of Canada is managing the slow-but-steady decline in DTH with a healthy pre-order book for its Lightspeed low Earth orbit (LEO) fleet, while Viasat is also looking to LEO with a joint venture with Abu Dhabi’s Space42.

But there with more modest players. A typical announcement came from Poland which will build six highly-secure satellites at a cost of $470 million (€397.5m) in addition to its existing commitments to the likes of Eutelsat, Viasat, and Starlink. Poland is also committed to involvement in the upcoming IRIS2 Europe-wide constellation for super-secure capacity.

Not unrelated came comments from launch business Avio and its CEO Giulio Ranzo who also noted this shift toward defence, stating that the segment will contribute a significant portion of the company’s revenue over the next decade. Avio is raising €400 million to expand its rocket and defence production.

Similar enthusiasm came from German rocket builder Isar Aerospace CCO Stella Guillen who told delegates that over the last nine months, Isar has seen a shift in demand from commercial rideshare missions to dedicated defence missions. Guillen added that the company is working on expanding its access to spaceports, including a new-build commercial launch facility being developed at the French Guiana Space Centre. However, construction has yet to start.

French small-sat launcher Latitude is also expanding. Adeline Pitrois, the company’s Commercial Director, explained to delegates that it would launch the debut flight of its Zephyr rocket from the facility in late 2026.

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Categories: Articles, Business, Satellite

Tags: LEO, meo, Paris, satellite, SES