Bharti-backed OneWeb comes with 36 more LEO satellites from Russian cosmodrome , details

OneWeb, Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite communications operator, that is co-owned by Bharti Global and UK government, launched one more batch of 36 satellites by Arianespace via Vostochny cosmodrome in Russia.

The recent launch takes OneWeb’s total in-orbit constellation to about 218 satellites. These will form OneWeb’s 648 LEO satellite fleet that’ll provide high-speed and low-latency global connectivity.

It presents the fourth in a five-launch programme to complete the ‘Five to 50’ service, which will allow OneWeb to provide connectivity across Alaska , UK, Northern Europe, Greenland, the Arctic Seas and Canada. The service is expected to switch on before the year end .

“Today’s successful launch is another execution milestone that puts us one launch away from delivering high speed, low latency connectivity to Alaska, Canada, Greenland, UK, and Northern Europe,” CEO OneWeb , Neil Masterson stated in a statement on Saturday.

The recent satellites launch is there for a month only after Bharti-backed OneWeb stated plans to raise $550 million (Rs 4,103 crore) by selling a 24% stake to Eutelsat Communications, bringing its total fund to $1.9 billion while taking it closer to launching a first-gen fleet of 648 satellites by the coming year.

Last November, Bharti Global MD Shravin Mittal had claimed that OneWeb is now open to enter India directly or via a commercial partnership, involving either the JV route or bandwidth capacity leasing pact.

Bharti Global is the support arm of Bharti Enterprises , the holding organization of Bharti Airtel, that is India’s second-largest telecom.