OneWeb was due to launch 36 broadband satellites on Friday (4 March) in Kazakhstan, in an operation that would have used Russian Soyuz rockets and have been overseen by the Russian space agency.
Following political pressure after the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine, the board of the London-based company voted to “suspend all launches” from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in a move welcomed by the UK government, which is a major shareholder.
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng tweeted: “The UK government supports OneWeb’s decision. In light of Russia’s illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, we are reviewing our participation in all further projects involving Russian collaboration.”
Darren Jones, Labour chairman of the Commons Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee, had written to ministers this week to question whether the collaboration between a company with UK government investment and Russia should be deemed “inappropriate” given Moscow’s attack...