OneWeb Satellite Constellation Grows to 182 Spacecraft
The OneWeb satellite constellation has grown to 182 spacecraft with the launch late Sunday of an additional 36 satellites.
"These are exciting times at OneWeb as we get ever closer to bringing our connectivity services to some of the world's hardest to reach places."
Neil Masterson, OneWeb CEO.
The launch was carried out by Arianespace using a Soyuz booster at 07:14 a.m. local time at Russia’s Vostochny Cosmodrome (22:14 p.m. on April 25, UTC). Flight ST31 was the 56th Soyuz mission carried out by Arianespace and its Starsem affiliate.
“Congratulations to all the teams who made this latest mission from the Vostochny Cosmodrome a success. This launch again confirms Arianespace’s ability to deploy the OneWeb constellation through the use of three different Soyuz launch sites – in French Guiana, Kazakhstan and Russia,” said Stéphane Israël, Chief Executive Officer of Arianespace. “I want to sincerely thank OneWeb for its trust. I am delighted that our company has contributed – for the sixth time – to this client’s ultimate ambition of providing Internet access to everyone, anywhere, at any time.”
Arianespace has launched 182 OneWeb satellites through six Soyuz launches to date. Pursuant to an amended launch contract with OneWeb, Arianespace will perform 13 more Soyuz launches through 2021 and 2022. These launches will enable the deployment of its full global OneWeb satellite constellation of low Earth orbit satellites by the end of 2022.
This launch also brings OneWeb a step closer to its 'Five to 50' ambition, which enables the start of commercial service by the end of the year. These satellites will form part of the OneWeb satellite constellation of 684 LEO satellites that will deliver high-speed, low-latency global connectivity, and represents 60 percent of the constellation required to enable its connectivity solution to reach all regions north of 50 degrees latitude by June 2021.
This is the third in a five-launch 'Five to 50' program, enabling OneWeb to offer services across the United Kingdom, Alaska, Northern Europe, Greenland, Iceland, the Artic Seas and Canada, and will be switched on before the end of the year. OneWeb then intends to make global service available in 2022.
"These are exciting times at OneWeb as we get ever closer to bringing our connectivity services to some of the world's hardest to reach places," said Neil Masterson, OneWeb CEO. "With this third successful launch in our 'Five to 50' programme, we are rapidly building momentum: we are launching more satellites, demonstrating the network, and announcing more distribution signings around the globe. We have a world class team and product, and alongside our supportive shareholders, OneWeb continues to work towards bringing connectivity to everyone, everywhere."
(Source: OneWeb and Arianespace news releases. Image provided by Roscosmos)