By Supantha Mukherjee

STOCKHOLM, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Eutelsat, the

world's third-biggest satellite operator by revenue, launched 20

satellites for its communications network on Sunday, using Elon

Musk's SpaceX in its first move since the merger of two European

companies last year.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket took off with Eutelsat satellites

from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base at 0513 GMT.

"This is the first OneWeb launch of the satellites since the

merger," CEO Eva Berneke told Reuters in an interview. "We will

be launching more satellites over the coming years."

The Paris-based group formed by the merger in September last

year of France's Eutelsat and Britain's OneWeb has a

constellation of over 600 low earth orbit satellites that cater

to broadcasters, telecom companies and radio stations.

"We really want to integrate into the telco ecosystem,"

Berneke said. "Satellites are an interesting niche in the

overall connectivity ecosystems where telcos are the big boys in

the class and satellite will always be a smaller part."

Eutelsat counts telecom operators such as France's Orange

and Australia's Telstra ( TTRAF ) as clients and is in

talks with others such as AT&T ( T ) in the U.S.

The company, which has a backlog of orders of $4 billion, is

waiting for countries such as India and Saudi Arabia to open up.

India - a market set to grow 36% a year to $1.9 billion by

2030 - is in the process to allowing satellite services> It has

experienced friction between domestic players and companies such

as Starlink.

"We have some of our backlog sitting in the Indian market...

It sits there until India gets open, the day it gets open, we'll

start building," Berneke said.

The company is also in talks with aviation companies to

offer in-flight connectivity, including internet browsing, and

expects revenue to start increasing from next year, she said.