French spacetech startup Univity has secured €44 million ($51.26m) in funding for a satellite constellation.

The startup was awarded €31m ($36m) as part of France’s national space agency CNES’ “France 2030” call for projects to develop French 5G solutions to support its satellite constellation. The startup has complemented this with co-financing, amounting to the total €44m ($51.26m).

“Thanks to France 2030 funding, CNES is supporting Univity in preparing, through the in-orbit demonstration ‘uniShape,’ a satellite-based 5G-NTN service designed to meet the needs of terrestrial operators,” Caroline Laurent, director of orbital systems and applications at CNES, said in a statement. “Univity’s ‘uniSky’ constellation aims to deliver a distinctive French solution for high-speed space-based 5G-NTN connectivity, serving both consumer and professional users, built on innovative concepts and breakthrough technologies.”

Paris-based Univity, formerly known as Constellation Technology & Operations, was founded in 2022 to develop a very low Earth orbit (VLEO) broadband constellation designed to enable telecom operators to provide competitive 5G services to the global connectivity market.

After raising €9.3m ($10.8m), the company launched its first 5G mmWave payload for space telecommunications in June 2025. It intends to conduct technical specifications and use cases leading up to the launch of two more prototype satellites in 2027, followed by the gradual rollout of its constellation between 2028 and 2030.

French sovereign connectivity

The project is supported by the landmark French telecommunication company TDF, which is no stranger to supporting connectivity initiatives. The group intends to play a central role in Univity’s constellation project, in operational implementation and operating three gateway stations, two in mainland France and one overseas, to connect with the satellites.

The France 2030 project is financed in a split of 30 percent from industry, with the majority coming from state investment. It’s part of a wider trend of states empowering sovereign provision of satellite connectivity through onshore investments in technology and manufacturing, complementing historic European ambitions to unleash spending on infrastructure following a geopolitical shift following American Liberation Day tariffs.

In combination with projects like IRIS², a much larger, Europe-wide space connectivity system, Univity’s financing fits a narrative of the continent’s interest in developing constellations of their own as an alternative to US Big Tech solutions like Starlink and Kuiper, the former being particularly unpopular since Musk ordered the service to shut down during a Ukrainian military operation in areas seized by Russia in late September 2022.