£200m satellite losses

a leadING government official has admitted that taxpayers are more than £200m out of pocket after the controversial bail-out and subsequent sale of a UKbased satellite firm.

Charles donald, chief executive of UK Government Investments (UKGI), confirmed to MPs that the value of the stake it bought in oneWeb for just over £400m in 2020 has fallen to around £160m.

France’s eutelsat took over oneWeb last year in a transaction which saw the government handed an 11pc stake in the enlarged company. But this has since slumped in value.

donald admitted to the Treasury select committee: ‘at the current market capitalisation of eutelsat we’re not equating to the value of the original purchase.’ oneWeb is a pioneer of ‘low earth orbit’ satellites that competes with elon Musk’s Starlink, aiming to provide access to high- speed internet where traditional ground infrastructure is hard to reach.

The Government’s original bail-out of oneWeb from bankruptcy in 2020 – said to have been championed by Boris Johnson’s adviser dominic Cummings – was not given the seal of approval by UKGI officials.

donald told MPs that after analysing the deal ‘we were not in a position to confirm that it would be a value for money transaction at that point in time’. But officials were overruled by then-business secretary alok Sharma.

oneWeb’s subsequent sale to eutelsat, initially agreed in 2022, was hailed as a vindication of the bail- out. The Government described the sale as ‘positive news for UK taxpayers’.

at the time it represented a paper profit for the Government, with its stake valued at about £500m.

But a eutelsat share price slide has sharply reduced the valuation. It was worsened in recent days – leaving the shares 17pc down so far this year – after a trading update last week warning that oneWeb’s satellite programme was running behind schedule.