The OneWeb satellites is a UK based company that had planned to globally launch satellite internet services covering every surface of the earth. Their initial plan was to launch a 650-satellite constellation that would have been able to provide global satellite Internet broadband services by 2021.
To fulfill their mission, they first sent off 6 test satellites in a circular low Earth’s orbit, at an altitude of almost 750 miles in the February of 2019. After this initial test batch, small groups of satellites were sent off, with a subsequent large batch of 34 satellites launching in the February of 2020. By March 2020, another 34 satellites were sent off in orbit, totaling up to 74 satellites. All these satellites transmit and receive signals in the Ku-band in the radio frequency spectrum.
All these small satellites were manufactured by OneWeb and Airbus, and OneWeb’s initial plans involved sending around 1972 more satellites in the earth’s orbit with priority spectrum rights. However, all the plans failed when in late March 2020, OneWeb declared bankruptcy and laid off most of their employees. The matter was in the court about the disposition of all of the company’s assets, but even during the process, OneWeb applied to the Federal Communications Commission to increase the number of satellites to around 48000!
SoftBank, which was one of OneWeb’s most crucial investors and shareholders, retracted its support from OneWeb’s ventures in March, and that led the company to seek Chapter 11 Protection in the US.
The rebirth and the new possession
The UK government and the Indian conglomerate Bharti Global won the right to purchase the bankrupted OneWeb satellites through a bidding process, and now, they are the principal shareholders having possession of all the assets of OneWeb, including the 74 satellites that the company had sent in orbit before going bankrupt. Both the UK government and Bharti Global are investing $500 million to move on with this project. Due to this new development and sale of OneWeb, s US Federal court has wiped clean all OneWeb’s previous debts, and it is like a fresh start for the company with new owners.
Sunil Bharti Mittal, the founder, and chairperson of Bharti Global, is very happy to be an integral part of this mega plan now to build a broadband mega constellation.
Moving on, a batch of 36 satellites is already on its way from Florida to the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia, and this batch is scheduled to be launched on 17th December 2020.
The new leadership and advisory board
Neil Masterson, the former Co-CEO at Thomson Reuters, has been appointed as the new CEO of the company. Adrian Steckel, who was the CEO of OneWeb, will remain as an adviser to the new board.
The UK government aims to deliver high-speed internet services all over the world while also providing accurate timing and navigation.
Some people are against the involvement of the UK government in this project, but the UK government seems to have fair reasons for investing in this new OneWeb company. The Business Secretary Alok Sharma had to issue a ministerial direction to push this investment while facing opposition from several civil servants.
After Brexit, the UK government’s partnership with the Galileo Sat-Nav project ended, and this is one reason why the UK is so interested in investing with OneWeb now. This is a new area that the UK wants to lead the world from the front.
The main aim is to provide broadband internet coverage in the Northern Hemisphere, going down to almost 50 degrees latitude by 2021. Around 16 satellite launches have already been booked with the Arianespace rocket company to make it all possible.
According to Sunil Bharti, the project requires $2-2.25 billion more money to continue with its plans.
Some of the prominent partners of OneWeb include Telecos and Airbus. According to the researchers at Airbus, the prospects of OneWeb’s low-Earth satellites are pretty bright, and they can lead to the eventual roll-out of autonomous vehicles on the surfaces of land, air, and sea.
I’m Ava Paul, an experienced news website author with a special focus on the entertainment section. Over the past five years, I have worked in various positions of media and communication at World Stock Market. My experience has given me extensive knowledge in writing, editing, researching and reporting on stories related to the entertainment industry.
