It looks like competition in the satellite internet industry is about to heat up as British satellite company OneWeb prepares to launch its final batch of internet satellites.
The launch will complete a constellation of more than 600 satellites in low Earth orbit. OneWeb said India’s heaviest launch vehicle LVM-3 will carry 36 OneWeb satellites, with liftoff slated for Sunday at 11:30 p.m.
The company has faced hiccups in its push to put the satellites up: They are centered mainly on the lack of its own launch pad. OneWeb was forced to make a switch from Russia to India to launch the latest batch of its satellite.
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Gizmodo reported that OneWeb turned to the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) to launch its satellites using India’s heaviest rocket, after having to cancel its launches aboard Russia’s Soyuz rocket. In October 2022, the 143-foot-tall (43.5 meter) rocket launched with its first commercial payload, the first batch of 36 OneWeb satellites, on board.
Oneweb has since stuck with India, where it has made its first launch. The second launch will take place at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
Having survived a bankruptcy scare in 2020, the $6 billion company has worked to expand its business with new investments. OneWeb was rescued by the UK government and the Indian conglomerate Bharti Global, who invested in it, half a billion dollars each.
The company is currently working through a merger plan with Paris-based Eutelsat, best known for distributing thousands of TV channels around the world, per the BBC.
Since 2020, OneWeb has tried to increase its internet constellation in low Earth orbit, pushing it to 579 satellites currently functioning in the orbit, according to statistics kept by Harvard-Smithsonian astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell.
The addition of 36 new units will raise the population of the constellation to about 615, completing the first orbital shell. The company had originally planned on building a 648-unit constellation, but says this final launch will cap it off and allow for global coverage, per Gizmodo.
Last year, the company was forced to halt the launch of its satellites after terminating its contract with Russia’s space agency Roscosmos.
Gizmodo tells the story: After relying on Russia’s Soyuz rocket to launch its satellites, OneWeb’s relationship with Roscosmos quickly deteriorated following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In retaliation against the Western sanctions imposed against Russia, Roscosmos refused to launch OneWeb’s satellites unless the company agreed to a list of demands. OneWeb declined, prompting Russia to keep OneWeb’s 36 satellites at a storage facility in Baiknour, Kazakhstan.
The company was left scrambling to find alternative rides for its satellites. As a result, OneWeb signed contracts with its internet constellation rival SpaceX, as well as ISRO, for the six remaining launches required for its first generation satellites.
OneWeb’s partnership with India through Bharti Global’s investment, has paved the way for it to complete a satellite constellation. Sunday’s launch will complete OneWeb’s constellation, enabling it to initiate global coverage this year, according to the company.
But OneWeb plans to expand its network in the coming years to include bigger, more powerful spacecraft. The constellation is now expected to be kept under 1,000 individual satellites, contrary to earlier indications.
The next generation will provide ancillary services, such as signals that allow users to fix their position on the surface of the Earth or know the precise time, per BBC.
OneWeb said its system, which will require the necessary ground infrastructure to command and control all the satellites and link them to the internet, should be fully up and running by the end of 2023.
But unlike SpaceX, OneWeb is not selling broadband connections direct to the individual user. Its clients, principally, are the telecoms companies that provide this internet service. BBC noted that they might also be employing the connectivity to supplement, or expand, the infrastructure in their mobile phone networks.