OneWeb partners with SpaceX to resume its LEO satellite launches

Bharti Enterprises-led OneWeb, the low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite communications company, on Monday announced that it has entered into an agreement with Elon Musk-owned SpaceX, which will enable it to resume satellite launches.

The first launch with SpaceX is anticipated in 2022 and will add to OneWeb’s total in-orbit constellation that is currently at 428 satellites, or 66 per cent of the fleet, the company said in a statement.

The terms of the agreement with SpaceX are confidential, it informed.

“We thank SpaceX for their support, which reflects our shared vision for the boundless potential of space. With the launch plans in place, OneWeb is on track to finish building out its full fleet of satellites and deliver robust, fast, secure connectivity across the globe," said OneWeb CEO Neil Masterson.

Demand for OneWeb’s broadband connectivity services has continued to grow across telecommunications providers, aviation and maritime markets, and governments across the world, the company said.

OneWeb had to abandon its planned launch on March 4 due to the Russia-Ukraine War. The launch was supposed to happen from Russia-controlled Kazakhstan. But since the UK government has 19.8 per cent stake in OneWeb, Russian space agency Roscosmos had demanded the withdrawal of UK from the project.

The London-headquartered company, in which Bharti Enterprises has around 32 pet cent stake, had earlier planned to complete the launches by June 2022. The deal with SpaceX will allow OneWeb to complete its remaining satellite launches from Texas, US.

Last week, OneWeb also got approval from the Department of Telecommunications to set up satellite earth stations in India. The company aims to offer their services in India by mid-2022.