OneWeb launches 36 new satellites; 60% of planned fleet now in space

Bharti Group and UK government's low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite communications company OneWeb announced the launch of 36 new satellites on Monday. This launch brings the total in-orbit constellation by the company to 394 satellites. This is the company’s twelfth overall and ninth launch since December 2020.

The company said that this represents over 60 per cent of OneWeb’s planned 648 LEO satellite fleet that will deliver high-speed, low-latency global connectivity.

The business is fully-funded with $2.7bn raised since November 2020 and no debt issuance.

"OneWeb now has over sixty percent of its global satellite fleet in space. It is an extraordinary achievement for a company that was reborn just a year ago. Together we are delivering on our promise to achieve digital transformation on a global scale, through our robust, secure and resilient satellite broadband network,” said OneWeb Executive Chairman, Sunil Bharti Mittal.

In the past month, OneWeb signed distribution partner agreements with Airbus to provide LEO services for military and governmental use in Europe as well announced a new Canadian-headquartered distribution partner, Network Innovations, and Vocus to expand enterprise connectivity in Australia.
 
These agreements, along with other recent strategic partnership announcements with AT&T, Hughes Network Systems, BT, and Leonardo DRS, will further OneWeb towards its goal of bringing improved digital communication services to some of the hardest to reach parts of the world, the company said in a statement.

OneWeb acquired TrustComm in 2020, which is focused on meeting the complex needs of government customers. Further, OneWeb plans to launch global service by the end of 2022.

"With more than 60 per cent of our constellation now in space, the business is fully-funded and we have a growing workforce of more than 400 people. I have been immensely proud to lead the business and our team over the last year as we continue to make substantial progress launching our global network, and I look forward to building on this momentum in 2022," said OneWeb CEO Neil Masterson.