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 2020-02-01 launch lifted off from Europe’s Guiana Space Center and its planned 2020-03-21 launch was scheduled to lift off from Russia’s Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
OneWeb has launched 40 satellites to date and has another 34 satellites scheduled to launch later 2020-03.
OneWeb received about $1,250,000,000 in 2019.
OneWeb expects its user terminals for community Wi-Fi services to cost between $1,000 and $1,500.
OneWeb’s aspirational target for the core antenna chipset to create user terminals for commercial aircraft is $150,000.
OneWeb launched 34 small broadband satellites on a Soyuz rocket in February 2019 as the start of regular launch campaigns toward an initial constellation of 650 satellites.
EchoStar, Khosla Ventures, and OneWeb founder Greg Wyler invested an additional $24,000,000 into Tarana Wireless.
OneWeb plans additional short pauses after launches planned for May and June that will expand the constellation to around 140 satellites.
The 34 satellites on the Soyuz launch will join six French-built OneWeb satellites launched the previous February.
Each 150-kilogram OneWeb satellite will use onboard electric propulsion to climb to a 1,200-kilometer operational orbit.
A Soyuz launch provided by Arianespace carrying 34 OneWeb satellites was scheduled to lift off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 4:42 p.m. EST.
OneWeb will take an indefinite launch hiatus once it has 588 satellites in low Earth orbit, which the company identifies as the minimum needed to provide global service.
Satixfy will have components on a single OneWeb satellite expected to launch in 2021.
OneWeb has not finalized whether it will build 900 first-generation satellites as planned in 2016 or stop at 648 before starting a second generation.
The number of OneWeb satellites launched per Soyuz mission depends on the launch site: launches from French Guiana or Kazakhstan carry 34 satellites while launches from Vostochny Cosmodrome carry 36 satellites.
OneWeb plans to achieve global coverage by the end of 2021.
Arianespace is launching the majority of OneWeb’s first-generation constellation using Soyuz rockets from Europe’s Guiana Space Center and Russia’s Baikonur and Vostochny Cosmodromes.
OneWeb is building its constellation at a new factory in Merritt Island, Florida, operated by OneWeb Satellites, a joint venture with Airbus Defence and Space.
OneWeb has another batch of 34 satellites scheduled to launch from Baikonur in March before a monthlong break to implement spacecraft software and hardware changes.
Counting the February launch, OneWeb plans to conduct a total of 17 or 18 Soyuz launches and one Ariane 6 launch with Arianespace to orbit 588 satellites before the end of next year.