{"id":11584,"date":"2021-07-01T23:25:26","date_gmt":"2021-07-01T15:25:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/oneweb-on-the-verge-of-commercial-service-after-another-successful-launch\/"},"modified":"2021-07-01T23:25:26","modified_gmt":"2021-07-01T15:25:26","slug":"oneweb-on-the-verge-of-commercial-service-after-another-successful-launch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/oneweb-on-the-verge-of-commercial-service-after-another-successful-launch\/","title":{"rendered":"OneWeb on the verge of commercial service after another successful launch"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A Soyuz booster takes off from the Vostochny Cosmodrome Thursday with 36 OneWeb satellites. Credit: Roscosmos<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A Russian Soyuz rocket and Fregat upper stage deployed 36 more OneWeb internet satellites into orbit Thursday, bringing the company\u2019s fleet to 254 spacecraft, enough to start commercial service above 50 degrees latitude.<\/p>\n

A Soyuz-2.1b rocket fired off a launch pad at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia\u2019s Far East at 8:48:33 a.m. EDT (1248:33 GMT) to begin a nearly four-hour mission delivering the 36 OneWeb satellites to orbit.<\/p>\n

Liftoff occurred at 9:48 p.m. local time at Vostochny to begin the third Soyuz launch in six days.<\/p>\n

The mission Thursday followed Soyuz rocket flights from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia on June 25 and a launch of a Progress resupply ship to the International Space Station Tuesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.<\/p>\n

Thursday\u2019s launch took off from Russia\u2019s newest spaceport, Vostochny, on the eighth Soyuz mission dedicated to carrying satellites for OneWeb, a London-based company building out a global space-based internet network.<\/p>\n

The launch of 36 more spacecraft brings OneWeb\u2019s constellation to 254 satellites. The company plans to launch 648 satellites through next year to fill out its first-generation fleet providing low-latency internet services.<\/p>\n

OneWeb\u2019s satellites were fastened inside the nose cone of the Soyuz-2.1b rocket for launch Thursday. A Fregat upper stage mounted on top of the Soyuz rocket completed the task of placing the OneWeb spacecraft into orbit.<\/p>\n

Each OneWeb satellite is about the side of a mini-fridge. The spacecraft are built by OneWeb Satellites, a joint venture between OneWeb and Airbus, in a factory just outside the gate of NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.<\/p>\n

The OneWeb satellites beam broadband internet signals to users on the ground, at sea, or in the air, providing high-speed, low-latency connectivity for consumers, large companies, and governments. OneWeb is competing with SpaceX\u2019s Starlink network, along with planned internet constellations from other companies.<\/p>\n

With the satellites launched Thursday, London-based OneWeb will have enough satellites to provide internet services to customers north of 50 degrees latitude. That will take a few months as the new spacecraft go through post-launch testing and orbit-raising.<\/p>\n

OneWeb emerged from bankruptcy last year under the ownership of Bharti Global and the UK government, and resumed launches in December.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis latest launch of OneWeb satellites will put high-speed broadband within reach of the whole Northern Hemisphere later this year, including improving connectivity in the remotest parts of the UK,\u201d said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.<\/p>\n

\u201cBacked by the British government, OneWeb proves what is possible when public and private investment come together, putting the UK at the forefront of the latest technologies, opening up new markets, and ultimately transforming the lives of people around the world,\u201d Johnson said in a statement.<\/p>\n