OneWeb has just launched 36 new satellites with the help of Arianespace, a European commercial space transportation company. This is OneWeb’s second step towards its five-launch programme, where it aims to cover all regions north of 50 degrees latitude by the half of 2021.
OneWeb is eyeing to start providing its services by the end of 2021. This was an important launch for the company since this will allow it to stay on track with its goals.
It is worth noting that this is just the second launch by OneWeb after the company got bought by new owners.
OneWeb Eyeing to Launch Services in India by 2022
For the unaware, OneWeb is a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite communications company that wants to provide satellite broadband services across the globe. It got acquired by the Bharti group and the UK government just when it was about to shut down its operations because of weak financials.
These 36 satellites are a small part of OneWeb’s goal of launching over 648 LEO satellites across the globe that will deliver high-speed broadband internet with low-latency to the users.
With the launch of these 36 satellites, OneWeb now has a total of 146 satellites orbiting the lower atmosphere of the Earth. OneWeb’s CEO, Neil Masterson, said that the next launch of new satellites for the company is scheduled for April this year.
OneWeb wants to initially cover the northern hemisphere with locations such as Northern Europe, Alaska, United Kingdom, Iceland, Greenland, Canada, and the Arctic Seas. By the year 2022, OneWeb plans to not only reach India but also provide satellite broadband connectivity globally.
Sunil Mittal, Chairman of Bharti group, has already expressed the satellite broadband company's plans to provide services in India. OneWeb will be competing with Elon Musk’s Starlink, another satellite broadband company not only in India but around the globe.
Starlink is already allowing users in India to pre-book a connection by paying $99 and promising that they will get services from 2022.
