France has turned its June 2025 NEXUS framework into spendable capacity, awarding Eutelsat the first CENTAURE call-off contract for military satellite communications. The deal gives the French armed forces priority access to OneWeb low-Earth orbit capacity, with an initial firm commitment of €138 million over four years and a ceiling of about €350 million over eight years.
The package also covers security upgrades for OneWeb services and operates as a bridge to IRIS², keeping French forces on resilient, low-latency connectivity while Europe’s sovereign secure network is still in development. Signed in Paris at Eurosatory 2026, it locks in a commercial European operator for a core defence requirement.