LEO startup chooses Toulouse and announces plans to expand satellite production as it targets global IoT market
The low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite startup, E-Space, has opened its new European headquarters in Toulouse, France. It says it is “actively seeking” an IoT satellite production site spanning an around 20,000 sqm, with plans to inaugurate it in 2024. The expansion of its manufacturing operations with see more than 260 jobs by 2025.
Serial entrepreneur
E-Space is the brainchild of serial satellite entrepreneur Greg Wyler who founded both O3b Networks, subsequently bought by SES, and OneWeb.
Wyler was reportedly the driving force behind the Rwandan government’s submission with the ITU, which raised many eyebrows in late 2021 after it proposed to launch more than 300,000 satellites into 550-640km orbits broadcasting in both L- and S-band.
Sceptics claim the move to reserve such a large number of orbital slots and frequencies is reminiscent of old domain grabs in the Internet world given no LEO constellation comes close to this size. However, the LEO space is hotting up and slots are getting crowded. The China National Space Administration is accelerating production of its new Long March 8 system to begin launching its own 13,000 LEOsat constellation called Guowang and compete with the likes of Starlink, OneWeb, Amazon Kuiper and Telesat.
Mega-constellations aside, unlike some struggling space startups, E-Space has raised US$90 million since inception as it plans to offer global IoT constellations as a service for lease and constellations as a product for full ownership. E-Space’s first three demonstration satellites were launched from New Zealand via Rocket Lab launch vehicles in May 2022.
Satellite heavyweights
E-Space SAS will serve as the hub for core communications systems architecture, plus product strategy and development.
The company also announced some heavyweight additions to its French board of directors including: former CEO of BNP Paribas Asset Management Christian Dargnat; former French minister for transport Jean-Baptiste Djebbari; and former head of the French Space Command major general (R) Michel Friedling.
The directors join former president and CEO of SES and Karim Michel Sabbagh, who leads Europe and the Middle East.
E-Space founder and CEO Greg Wyler said: “The opening of the E-Space European headquarters in Toulouse marks a significant milestone in our company’s growth. It serves as the epicentre of our European operations.”
Europe and Middle East MD Sabbagh added: “Our new European headquarters will be a catalyst for radical innovation and development. Building technical, strategic and product focused centres of excellence will enhance our ability to tackle complex challenges, leverage synergies and deliver high value to European customers.”
E-Space recently completed a five-month feasibility study, commissioned by the French Space Agency, Centre National D’Etudes Spatiales (CNES) aimed at assessing and validating the technical capabilities of its system, in both space and ground segments, and its long-term viability.
In March the company tied up with UAE-based telco e& (Etisalat) to develop global Internets of Things (IoT), Smart-IoT and digital transformation.