Watch This Space

French satellite giant Eutelsat is taking on Elon Musk's Starlink-while navigating Russia's war in Ukraine, Brexit politics, and Iranian jamming attacks

- By Morgan Meeker

EVA BERNEKE describes her first year at the helm of the world's third-largest satellite company as a "whirlwind." That's an understatement. Since she took over Eutelsat in January 2022, the Danish CEO has become a direct competitor to Elon Musk, been accused by the Ukrainian government of aiding Russian propaganda, and found herself in the thick of bitter Brexit politics-and that's before you even mention the Iranian sabotage attempt.

Despite all that, Berneke gives the impression that she has everything under control. When she arrived at Eutelsat, the French company's bread-and-butter business was beaming TV channels into homes using geostationary satellites, which move at the same speed as Earth's rotation to stay in a fixed position above the planet's surface. The organization she - inherited was stable and solid, she says, but stagnating in an industry that was experiencing radical change. Although Eutelsat was starting to offer satellite internet, the public's shift to streaming was eroding the company's TV revenue.

The entrance of two of the world's richest men into the satellite business-Elon Musk with Starlink and Jeff Bezos with Project Kuiper-was also beginning to change the way incumbents thought about their future. "When you have two of the biggest business innovators interested in your industry, you should expect a little bit of shaking up," Berneke says.