Originally published by Space Intel Report. Read the original article here.
Charles Delfieux. (Source: Univity)
TUPPER LAKE, NY — Satellite broadband and direct-to-device (D2D) connectivity has at least the potential to go over the heads of the established mobile network operators (MNOs) to serve customers directly.
This prospect has not gone over well with the MNOs, who are now considering how to assure their relevance in areas where satellite links can offer 100% coverage of a given territory.
This has provided an opening for startup constellation operators to win over MNOs with the assurance that they will retain control of their customers, in part by letting constellations use MNO spectrum.
Univity of France is one of these startups. Its model is a very-low-Earth-orbit (VLEO) constellation that offers “a shared and neutral space infrastructure to place telecom operators at the center of the value chain.” That’s music to telcos’ ears.
Univity recently signed an MoU with Indonesia’s Telcomsat satellite operator. Indonesia, in addition to being a natural market for satellite connectivity, has seen an upsurge in interest in sovereign satellite capacity to resist the global players.
Telcomsat signed a similar MoU in December with Space42, which with Viasat Inc. of the United States has created a joint venture, Equatys, that envisions a pooling of resources among multiple telcos to form a multiple-owner constellation.
Univity in April closed a Series A round with 27 million euros ($31 million). It has received some 31 million euros in financing from the France 2030 public investment fund, and in 2025 it launched a prototype satellite.
(Source: Univity)
Univity Chief Executive and Founder Charles Delfieux answered Space Intel Report questions about the company’s near-term goals and strategy.
Describe the ownership structure you envision for your constellation: Each telecom operator signs up for a percent of equity that guarantees a certain amount of capacity in its territory? If not, what is the model?
It is anticipated that some telecom operators invest in Univity, as strategic investors in a shared neutral infrastructure, thus participating to the network infrastructure ownership, in addition to other private investors.
On the other hand, network capacity commitments will be managed through wholesale service agreements with local telecom operators in charge of retailing the service in their territory. Being shareholder of Univity will not be a pre-requisite condition though to become one of Univity’s clients.
Obviously, the telecom operator ownership may be bundled with preferred conditions for wholesale service agreements.
Your network would provide MNO-licensed capacity, not D2D using MSS spectrum, correct?
The network provides broadband connectivity in MNO-licensed spectrum in mmWave-band, and D2D connectivity in S-band, using both the MSS spectrum and MNO-licensed spectrum.
Do you see signal interference at the borders of closely packed nations — such as in Europe — as an issue?
Our studies show that interference at borders are manageable with our technological solution, with limited impacts on the service quality/coverage. Narrow exclusion zones can be placed along international borders if absolutely necessary. In Europe, a harmonized allocation of the spectrum across countries would nevertheless facilitate the network operations.
(Source: Univity)
You said after your 27-million-euro Series A in April that you would use the funding to develop your orbital network. D2D satellites tend to be heavy because of the battery needed to deliver the service. For your network in VLEO at ~ 350 km, what is the expected satellite mass?
The expected satellite mass of our constellation in VLEO is in the order of 500-550 kg.
What is the expected service life of your satellites at a that altitude?
Univity is designing 7-year-lifetime satellites operated in VLEO.
Are you willing to discuss satellite production in the nations of your telco customers to serve their sovereignty requirements? Or are you assuming that a production site in France will supply the entire constellation?
Univity is open for discussions on any opportunity that would be beneficial for both Univity and its telecom operator partners. In the meantime, our current plan is to produce at scale all our satellites and user terminals in France.
You launched a first satellite in 2025. What are its early performance results, and what exactly has been tested during its mission?
The uniSpark satellite launched in 2025 hosts the first-of-its-kind regenerative payload operating in the mmWave spectrum, with unique 5G NTN radio network access technologies developed by Unity.
This demonstration payload is demonstrating 5G mmWave and DVB-S2X communication in Time Division Duplexing (TDD) thanks to end-to-end testing using ground station prototypes.
(Source: Univity)
You have spoken about 2029 as the year of commercial scale-up. What are your goals for 2027-2028?
The development plan follows a “test – prove – deploy” progressive logic.
After the initial tests with uniSpark, we have started the uniShape program, for an end-to-end demonstration with the 2 first VLEO complete satellites, and pre-production user terminals and gateways.
uniShape satellites accommodate both S-band D2D and mmWave broadband missions, and are expected to be launched by early 2028 and tested throughout 2028.
Originally published by Space Intel Report. Read the original article here.
