France would more than double its stake in Eutelsat to nearly 30% as part of a $1.56 billion capital raise backed by multiple shareholders, bolstering the French operator’s plans to refresh its OneWeb constellation amid Starlink’s growing dominance.

The satellite operator said the capital increase would support its strategy, driven by strong market momentum in the Low Earth Orbit-enabled connectivity market.

The French state is set to become Eutelsat's biggest shareholder following a 1.35 billion-euro $1.55 billion) capital increase that the financial ministry said will help the satellite company compete with Elon Musk's Starlink.