European satellite firm Eutelsat has ceased leasing capacity from two Russian satellites after one was lost and the other is set to change its orbit.

On March 4, the Russian Satellite Communications Company (RSCC) reported that its Express-AT1 geosynchronous (GEO) telecommunications satellite stopped functioning with no explanation as to why.

Specialists of the RSCC and the satellite’s manufacturer, JSC Information Satellite Systems Reshetnev, attempted to restore the operability of the satellite with no success, leading to a declaration of the satellite as completely lost.

The broadcast satellite, alongside its duplicate, Express-AT2, both launched in 2014 from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, one of Europe’s favorite spaceports before the war in Ukraine.

The satellites were being serviced under a capacity contract through Eutelsat throughout the saga of sanctions imposed on Russia in the wake of the invasion, but the company has now decided to terminate that contract, despite Express-AT2 remaining operational.

The company had been prepared to go on leasing capacity for three more years, as per the contract terms.

“The termination of these agreements will have a low single-digit million impact on revenues, and virtually no impact on EBITDA in FY 2025-26. It does not alter any of the elements of Eutelsat’s financial objectives,” the company said in a statement.

Express-AT1 is located at 56 degrees East and carries 32 Ku-band transponders, double that of AT2, with 16, located at 140 degrees East. Eutelsat had leased 19 transponders from Express-AT1, and eight from AT2. Both satellites were designed with a 15-year lifespan.

On its website, Eutelsat said the Russian machines complemented coverage of the European part of Russia provided by the European operator’s own 36B and 36C satellites located at 36° East.

Eutelsat were doing what now?

The Denis Diderot Committee (Comité Diderot), named for a key Enlightenment era thinker, was formed in March 2022 by French and Ukrainian activists, and sought to disconnect Eutelsat’s support for Russian satellite television with claims that the Parisian company was party to supplying the kind of televised war propaganda that had allowed the Putin administration to sustain popular domestic support for the war in Ukraine.

“It’s not normal that a French satellite is used for a propaganda war,” André Lange, coordinator of Comité Diderot, said in 2024.

In March 2025, the French media regulator Arcom ordered Eutelsat to cease broadcasting the Russian channels STS and Channel 5 after a probe discovered Eutelsat’s commercial agreements had links to a sanctioned entity, which the company obeyed, though it continued to work with RSCC on Express-AT1 and 2, which the regulator may have also been investigating.

“In our view, priority should have been given to the Russian army’s three Zvezda (ZVEZ.MM), Novaya Vkladka channels, and the Orthodox Church’s Spas channel,” André Lange said at the time of the 2025 ruling.

“As for the end of the [Express-AT1 and AT2] Eutelsat leasing contract, this is, of course, a good thing,” Lange told DCD. “The Diderot Committee has been arguing since Spring 2022 that Eutelsat should cease any collaboration with RSCC, Trikolor, and NTVplus.”

Lange alleged that the committee had identified that the regional entertainment channels served by satellites supported by the satellites included recruitment advertisements for the Russian army.

Another bad day for GEO

The termination may come as a relief to Eutelsat’s money men who had yet more bad news to report about its GEO segment in the six months ending December 31. Connectivity revenues from the GEO fleet fell 4.5 percent to €197m ($225m), as the video revenues synonymous with GEO fell 12.3 percent to €267m ($306m) in the period.

The company did not clarify if mitigating circumstances had allowed it to avoid early termination fees, though this distinction could well be the logic behind the timing of the decision.

With the cessation of service, Eutelsat’s GEO fleet shrinks to 33 satellites, though this still includes the RSCC-owned Express-AMU1. That satellite, located 36 degrees East and serving sub-Saharan Africa, launched in 2015 and is due to remain operational until around 2030.

RSCC has declared that a replacement for AT1, referred to as Express-AT3, has entered a competitive process to seek a developer. The satellite will cover the same area across Russian territory and is expected to begin commercial operation in late 2030.