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.
Discussions among OneWeb, SoftBank, and Intelsat continued beyond 2018-03-31 despite an amended agreement stating that SoftBank agreed to sell OneWeb Services to Intelsat pursuant to a master service agreement to be negotiated on or prior to 2018-03-31.
In 2017, OneWeb, SoftBank, and Intelsat discussed a proposed merger under which SoftBank would invest up to $1,500,000,000 in Intelsat to combine Intelsat and OneWeb into a single satellite provider.
OneWeb has six of a planned 650 initial satellites in orbit using Ku-band frequencies.
Iridium and OneWeb signed a memorandum of understanding at Iridium’s annual partner conference in Coronado, California on 2019-09-17.
OneWeb signed on for the first flight of the Ariane 6 rocket in 2019.
Arianespace subsidiary Starsem was scheduled to perform OneWeb’s second launch in November or December 2019 from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome.
OneWeb opened a new factory in Florida that will produce two OneWeb satellites per day.
OneWeb launched a Responsible Space initiative in June 2019 that includes a public website at www.responsible.space.
OneWeb selected an orbital altitude of 1,200 km for its satellites in part because the population of existing satellites and debris is lower at that altitude compared to 800–900 km.
OneWeb inaugurated a Florida factory in July where it plans to build its constellation through a joint venture with Airbus Defence and Space.
OneWeb plans to begin monthly Soyuz launches in December to deploy an initial constellation of 650 broadband satellites by the end of 2021.
The NRAO raised the issue with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission that OneWeb had not met the commission rule requiring coordination of spectrum adjacent to radio astronomy before beginning operations.
SpaceX, OneWeb, and Kepler Communications plan to use Ku-band spectrum for their constellations.
FCC regulations require OneWeb and other Ku-band constellations to coordinate with the observatory before beginning service in the United States.
OneWeb contends that Virgin Orbit’s estimate that it would earn between $234,000,000 and $832,000,000 from conducting launches for OneWeb overstates the contract's value.
Virgin Orbit asserted that OneWeb owed $46,320,000 of a $70,000,000 termination fee.
Virgin Orbit sued OneWeb for cancelling in June 2018 all but four of 39 launches it had purchased.
The majority of OneWeb’s initial 648-satellite constellation is projected to launch on Soyuz rockets 34 to 36 at a time.
OneWeb succeeded on 2019-08-07 in bringing its Ku- and Ka-band spectrum into use under International Telecommunication Union rules with the first six satellites, ensuring spectrum access for the larger constellation.
OneWeb has paid Virgin Orbit more than $66 million, of which $18,000,000 went towards launches that are still expected to happen.