Successful Launch Marks Key Milestone for OneWeb’s ‘Five to 50’ Ambition
- OneWeb confirms successful launch and contact with all 36 satellites
- The latest deployment brings the in-orbit constellation to 146 satellites
- On track to cover 50 degrees Latitude and above by end of year; three more launches to go
LONDON, 25 March 2021 (OneWeb PR) — OneWeb, the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite communications company, has confirmed the successful launch of all 36 satellites by Arianespace from the Vostochny Cosmodrome. This launch, its second under new ownership, brings its total in-orbit constellation to 146 satellites. These will form part of OneWeb’s 648 LEO satellite fleet that will deliver high-speed, low-latency global connectivity.
Lift-off occurred on 25 March at 02:47 GMT. OneWeb’s satellites separated from the rocket and were dispensed in nine batches over a period of 3 hours 51 minutes with signal acquisition on all 36 satellites confirmed.
This is the second in a five-launch programme that will enable OneWeb’s connectivity solution to reach all regions north of 50 degrees latitude by the middle of 2021, with service ready to start by years end, giving OneWeb the ability to connect millions of consumers in the northern hemisphere. These services will cover 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.
Neil Masterson, OneWeb CEO commented: “This is the second of our ‘Five to 50’ launch series and represents a key moment in OneWeb’s return. The next launch in the series is scheduled for the end of April, as we continue our drive towards commercial service this year. OneWeb is rising to the challenge of our mission to provide connectivity to everyone, everywhere, all the time. Backed by exemplary shareholders, we are connecting the world.”
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng added: “This latest launch is yet another boost for OneWeb and their ambitious plans to connect people and businesses across the globe to fast and reliable broadband.
“Our support for OneWeb puts the UK at the forefront of the latest advances in space technology and demonstrates our commitment to grow Britain’s competitive advantage in this field.”
In March of 2021, OneWeb conducted its first network demonstrations to the U.S. Government and will be rolling out additional demonstration kits and demo centres in locations such as : U.K., Alaska, Maryland and more.
About OneWeb
OneWeb is a global communications network powered from space, headquartered in London, enabling connectivity for governments, businesses, and communities. It is implementing a constellation of Low Earth Orbit satellites with a network of global gateway stations and a range of user terminals to provide an affordable, fast, high-bandwidth and low-latency communications service, connected to the IoT future and a pathway to 5G for everyone, everywhere. Find out more at https://www.oneweb.world
7 responses to “Successful Launch Marks Key Milestone for OneWeb’s ‘Five to 50’ Ambition”
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This will fill up the niche in polar communication that SpaceX is skipping.
SpaceX isn’t skipping polar, it’s just getting to it a bit further down the road.
Close to 100,000 of these pieces of space junk are on the way up over the next ten years. It is a disaster unfolding. And it never should have been allowed. At some point, when bad things start happening, many people actually involved and hoping to cash in are going to display their faux shock and outrage that “others” enabled such a profoundly bad idea.
So much for manned geo communication platform Gary. That was always a supremely dumb idea.
Arthur C. Clarke did not think so in “The Promise of Space.”
But the supremely asinine troll does.
The Promise of Space was published in 1968. By that time there were already GEO comsats. Clarke’s original concept of human-crewed GEO radio stations was published in 1945. He included crew because he figured the vacuum tubes would need constant replacement. This was, of course, prior to the invention of semiconductors. Unlike you, Clarke was not averse to swinging with the times.
Down the page to serial troll me again I see, you disgusting creep. And…you are lying about Clarke of course. You mischaracterize his work as being about changing tubes and make him out to be on your side. You lie like the rest of us breathe.