Artist rendition of the Eutelsat KONNECT VHTS satellite. Photo: Eutelsat

Eutelsat has taken on a eight-year, $243 million (200 million euro) financing agreement from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to back investments related to the procurement and launch of the KONNECT VHTS satellite. 

KONNECT VHTS, is the follow-on satellite of KONNECT, which entered service in November 2020. Thales Alenia Space is building the satellite with Ka-band capacity of 500 Gbps. It will deliver high-speed fixed broadband to European households, businesses, and public administrations in remote areas. 

The transaction, announced Wednesday at the European Space Conference, is in line with the European Union and EIB’s commitment to support European space companies, and the European Commission’s target that Europe will have access to at least 100 Mbps of internet connectivity by 2025.

“This long-term financing with the EIB ensures that major players in the space sector like Eutelsat have access to diversified and compelling sources of funding,” Eutelsat CEO Rodolphe Belmer commented. “This commitment also underlines the EU’s belief in geostationary satellites as an indispensable complement to the provision of connectivity to unserved or poorly served regions significantly more quickly and cheaply than deploying terrestrial infrastructure in remote areas.