Eutelsat OneWeb (formerly OneWeb) is a satellite communications company aiming to bridge the digital divide by providing high-speed, low-latency broadband internet services globally via a low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation. As a subsidiary of Eutelsat Group, it focuses on delivering connectivity solutions to governments, enterprises, and communities in underserved areas, as well as to the maritime and aviation sectors. Key partners include distribution partners, Airbus (through OneWeb Satellites, a joint venture for satellite manufacturing), and technology providers like Microsoft Azure and AWS for network peering.
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OneWeb’s planned constellation size was reduced from 900 to 600 satellites based on better-than-expected satellite performance from ground testing.
Previous public disclosures indicated OneWeb had raised $1,700,000,000 in capital, with the majority coming from SoftBank.
OneWeb has raised more than $2,000,000,000 but less than $2,500,000,000 to date.
OneWeb Satellites is a joint venture between Airbus Defence and Space and OneWeb to build the constellation.
Arianespace is launching the roughly 150-kilogram OneWeb satellites directly to a 1,200-kilometer operating orbit.
The six OneWeb satellites shipped to French Guiana are scheduled to launch on 2019-02-19 on an Arianespace-operated Soyuz rocket.
OneWeb reduced its originally planned first launch from 10 satellites to six satellites in order to keep four satellites as spares.
Isotropic Systems plans to introduce Ku-band terminals approximately six months after its Ka-band products to support constellations like OneWeb.
Arianespace plans to return to launching from Russia’s Baikonur Cosmodrome for OneWeb missions if OneWeb is ready.
OneWeb plans to start service with around 300 satellites and to achieve full global coverage with 600 satellites.
Arianespace won a OneWeb launch contract in 2015 for 21 Soyuz missions and initially planned for most of those missions to take place in Baikonur.
The three missions that did not take place in 2018—the Arabsat-ISRO Ariane 5, OneWeb’s first Soyuz, and the Italian Space Agency’s Vega launch of Prisma—are on Arianespace’s 2019 manifest.
Arianespace planned to launch OneWeb satellites in the second part of 2019 contingent on OneWeb’s satellite readiness.
OneWeb's satellites have per-unit costs above $500,000 but OneWeb officials state the satellites are below $1,000,000 each.
OneWeb is reducing the size of its initial low Earth orbit constellation by one third from 900 to about 600 satellites.
OneWeb has raised more than $2,000,000,000 to date from investors including SoftBank, Intelsat, and Coca-Cola.
OneWeb has an order for 1,800 star trackers from Sodern, representing two star trackers per each of the 900 small satellites OneWeb is building with Airbus Defence and Space.
Airbus Defence and Space is building 900 internet satellites for OneWeb through a joint venture and has built a factory in Florida to produce two OneWeb satellites per day.
Airbus and OneWeb together are building 900 small telecommunications satellites and received a DARPA study contract for the same commercial-bus assessment purpose.
OneWeb is requesting FCC approval to launch 1,980 broadband satellites to an altitude of 1,200 km and 2,560 satellites into medium Earth orbit.