{"id":17756,"date":"2020-03-27T22:09:48","date_gmt":"2020-03-27T14:09:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/oneweb-files-for-bankruptcy-amid-coronavirus-chaos-leaving-satellite-networks-fate-up-in-the-air\/"},"modified":"2020-03-27T22:09:48","modified_gmt":"2020-03-27T14:09:48","slug":"oneweb-files-for-bankruptcy-amid-coronavirus-chaos-leaving-satellite-networks-fate-up-in-the-air","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/oneweb-files-for-bankruptcy-amid-coronavirus-chaos-leaving-satellite-networks-fate-up-in-the-air\/","title":{"rendered":"OneWeb files for bankruptcy amid coronavirus chaos, leaving satellite network\u2019s fate up in the air"},"content":{"rendered":"
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An artist\u2019s conception shows a OneWeb satellite in space. (OneWeb Satellites Illustration)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

OneWeb, the London-based venture that launched its latest batch of broadband internet satellites last weekend, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York today.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe company intends to use these proceedings to pursue a sale of its business in order to maximize the value of the company,\u201d OneWeb said in a news release.<\/p>\n

OneWeb has 74 satellites in low Earth orbit, and half of its 44 planned ground stations have been completed or are in development. It was planning to begin offering broadband internet access in the Arctic as soon as this year, and broaden its service to the entire globe with hundreds of satellites over the next year or so. All those plans are now up in the air.<\/p>\n

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a source who\u2019s familiar with the situation told GeekWire that OneWeb wasn\u2019t able to arrange further financial support from SoftBank Group, one of its biggest backers. The source said substantial numbers of employees were laid off today, but didn\u2019t provide the numbers.<\/p>\n

In its news release, OneWeb confirmed that it was facing a financial squeeze, primarily due to effects of the global coronavirus outbreak. \u201cWhile the company was close to obtaining financing, the process did not progress because of the financial impact and market turbulence related to the spread of COVID-19,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

The petition filed in Southern New York Bankruptcy Court lists the company\u2019s 30 biggest creditors. The top creditor on the list is Arianespace, with an unsecured claim of more than $238 million. There\u2019s also a Seattle-area company among the creditors: Woodinville, Wash.-based Redapt, which has a claim of $662,275.85.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=YIrIt0R47Z8<\/p>\n

OneWeb said it\u2019s asking the court for authorization to continue operations during the Chapter 11 process, using its existing cash collateral. It also said it\u2019s in negotiations for \u201cdebtor-in-possession financing.\u201d If the court approves such an arrangement, OneWeb could fund additional financial commitments as it goes through the sale process. \u201cTogether, these actions will allow OneWeb to. meet post-petition obligations to its remaining employees and certain vendors in the ordinary course,\u201d the company said.<\/p>\n

In a statement, OneWeb CEO Adrian Steckel said that today was \u201ca difficult day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo many people have dedicated so much energy, effort and passion to this company and our mission,\u201d Steckel said. \u201cOur hope is that this process will allow us to carve a path forward that leads to the completion of our mission, building on the years of effort and the billions of invested capital.\u201d<\/p>\n

OneWeb\u2019s financial setback boosts the status of SpaceX\u2019s Starlink constellation as the front-runner in a competition to beam more ubiquitous broadband to underserved markets (and the U.S. military) from low Earth orbit.<\/p>\n

Starlink satellites are built at SpaceX\u2019s facilities in Redmond, Wash., not far from where Amazon\u2019s Project Kuiper is laying the groundwork for yet another broadband satellite constellation.<\/p>\n

Read the petition filed in Southern New York Bankruptcy Court<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An artist\u2019s conception shows a OneWeb satellite in space. (OneWeb Satellites Illustration) OneWeb, the London-based venture that launched its latest batch of broadband internet satellites last weekend, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York today. \u201cThe company intends to use these proceedings to pursue a sale of its business in order to maximize […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[252,1277,20,442],"class_list":["post-17756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-broadband","tag-oneweb","tag-satellite","tag-satellites"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17756"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17756\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}