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.
All verified mentions of this organization in source documents.
Tim Kopra was Vice President for Robotics and Space Operations at MDA before joining OneWeb Technologies.
OneWeb purchased eight of the 10 Soyuz missions that Soyuz flew for non-Russian customers in 2021 (all but two).
OneWeb planned to deploy its final six batches of satellites by midyear using Soyuz rockets.
Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin offered to allocate Soyuz-2 rockets booked for OneWeb to private Russian space companies for launching domestic spacecraft.
OneWeb suspended six remaining Soyuz launches on 2022-03-03 to seek non-Russian launch alternatives following Russia’s war in Ukraine.
OneWeb secured an insurance policy worth more than $1,000,000,000 on 2022-09-02 to cover 10 remaining Soyuz launches for its constellation at that time.
OneWeb’s remaining Soyuz launches were planned from Baikonur and were in question beyond the next launch scheduled for 2022-03-04.
SatixFy reached an agreement in March 2021 to provide in-flight connectivity terminals for low Earth orbit operator OneWeb.
Concerns existed in early 2022 about whether OneWeb would have regulatory approvals to export satellites built in Florida to Baikonur and about availability of the Antonov An-124 for transporting them.
OneWeb is a global communications network powered by a constellation of 650 LEO satellites.
Preparations for OneWeb’s scheduled 2022-03-04 launch from Russia’s Baikonur Cosmodrome were suspended after Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin conditioned the launch on guarantees that OneWeb satellites would not be used for military purposes and after the British government divested its stake in OneWeb.
OneWeb planned five more missions by the end of August to enable its low Earth orbit constellation to provide global services.
OneWeb has launched 428 of a planned 648 broadband satellites aboard Soyuz rockets under a 19-launch contract with Arianespace of Évry, France.
OneWeb announced on 2022-03-03 that it would stop using Russia’s Soyuz rocket.
Roscosmos demanded that OneWeb guarantee by 1:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on 2022-03-04 that its satellites will not be used for military purposes or the Soyuz-2.1b rocket would be removed from the pad.
Roscosmos required the British government to withdraw its stake in OneWeb as a condition for the 2022-03-05 launch.
Airbus OneWeb Satellites has cooperated with Fakel on thrusters for OneWeb's constellation.
Arianespace has a contract with OneWeb to launch its constellation and has deployed 428 of the planned 648 satellites on Soyuz rockets over 13 missions since February 2019.
OneWeb ordered staff to leave Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on 2022-03-02.
Airbus and OneWeb have not disclosed how many satellites remain to be built to complete OneWeb’s constellation.