The successful launch, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, brings OneWeb’s total in-orbit constellation to 322 satellites. This amounts to nearly half of its planned fleet of 648 low earth orbit satellites that will deliver high-speed, low-latency global connectivity on the ground.
Liftoff occurred yesterday around 7pm BST and after leaving the Earth’s atmosphere the satellites were separated from the rocket and dispensed in nine batches approximately 3 hours and 45 minutes into the flight. OneWeb confirmed it had made contact with all 34 satellites following their deployment.
In July last year, the UK Government purchased a stake in OneWeb, which had fallen into bankruptcy before its proposed internet service was able to get off the ground.
It was bought as a means to expand the UK space industry following the country’s withdrawal from the EU and its Galileo project.
The firm has been building partnerships with major communications providers...