Sunil Mittal-led low-earth orbit (LEO) broadband satellite communications company OneWeb has successfully launched 36 satellites. This launch, the second after a consortium led by Mittal took ownership of the UK satellite company, 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.
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 year’s 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 Arctic Seas and Canada, and will be switched on before the end of the year. OneWeb then intends to make global services available in 2022.
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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.”
In July 2020, Mittal-owned Bharti Global won a global bid to pick up a 45 per cent stake in OneWeb. A consortium of the UK Government, through the UK Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and Mittal’s Bharti Global, has invested $1 billion of new equity to offer broadband connectivity services via a constellation of 650 LEO satellites. Low-orbit satellite is the new thing in the space race with Musk’s Starlink satellites already taking the lead.
Initially, the company will roll out services in the UK and Northern Europe with round-the-clock satellite coverage by next year. In India, Mittal plans to start trials by next year and by May-June 2022 there will be enough satellites to offer 24X7 services.