LONDON, U.K. — In its second launch of 2020 and its third to date, OneWeb launched 34 more satellites into orbit on Saturday, bringing the total number of satellites in the constellation to 74 so far.
The launch was made aboard a Soyuz launch vehicle from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, with the satellites dispensed in nine batches and signal acquisition anticipated within hours of the launch.
The latest launch achievement was made possible by the pace and execution of OneWeb Satellites’ high-volume production factory in Florida, says the news release. OneWeb says it has now successfully deployed and tested satellites, installed ground stations globally, secured valuable spectrum and has a range of user terminals in development to meet customer needs.
Part of its business plan is to deliver fibre-like speeds to the high Arctic, as we’ve reported.
“The current global health and economic crisis underscores the tremendous need and demand for connectivity, especially for rural and under-connected communities worldwide. From remote working, to online learning, to accessing healthcare information and medical advice, there is an overwhelming need to have more solutions available to connect people everywhere. OneWeb is making significant strides to deliver the connectivity that is currently lacking around the world,” reads the news release.
OneWeb’s initial constellation will consist of approximately 650 Low Earth Orbit satellites. The company says it will begin customer demos in 2020 and provide global, 24-hour coverage to customers in 2021.
“In these unprecedented times following the global outbreak of COVID-19, people around the world find themselves trying to continue their lives and work online. We see the need for OneWeb, greater now more than ever before,” said Adrian Steckel, CEO of OneWeb, in the news release. “High-quality connectivity is the lifeline to enabling people to work, continue their education, stay up to date on important healthcare information and stay meaningfully connected to one another. This crisis has demonstrated the imperative need for connectivity everywhere and has exposed urgent shortcomings in many organizations’ connectivity capabilities. Our satellite network is poised to fill in many of these critical gaps in the global communications infrastructure.”
