OneWeb confirms
successful deployment of 40 satellites launched with
SpaceX
Launch 15 brings total OneWeb
constellation to 502 satellites – almost 80% of
satellite fleet delivering connectivity globally in
2023. It will enable significant expansion of
connectivity services across the US, Europe, much of
the Middle East and Asia, South Africa, southern
Australia, and parts of South America.
OneWeb Launch 15 Media Kit
Kennedy Space Center, Florida,
December 8, 2022 – OneWeb today confirmed the
successful deployment of 40 satellites launched by
SpaceX, from the Kennedy Space Center. This launch
is OneWeb’s 15th to date and the second since
resuming its campaign with a successful launch from
India in October, putting the company on track to
deliver global coverage in 2023.
Lift-off took place on
Thursday, 8 December 2022 at 5:27pm ET. OneWeb’s
satellites separated successfully from the rocket
and were dispensed in three phases over a period of
one hour and 35 minutes, with signal acquisition on
all 40 satellites confirmed.
With 502 satellites in orbit,
OneWeb has almost 80% of its first-generation
constellation completed – with only three more
launches now remaining to reach global coverage.
Today’s launch is a significant milestone, as the
company will be able to dramatically expand service
and initiate connectivity solutions soon to areas
including the US, southern Europe and North Africa,
northern India, the Middle East, Japan, southern
Australia, South Africa and parts of South America.
OneWeb already has connectivity
solutions active today in Alaska, Canada, the UK,
Greenland and wider Arctic area, with more locations
covered to provide internet connectivity to unserved
and underserved rural and remote communities and
businesses. Working with local partners such as
telecommunications companies, internet service
providers and local governments, OneWeb’s wholesale
services can deliver high-speed, low-latency
solutions for cellular backhaul, community Wi-Fi,
remote enterprise use cases, and soon for the
aviation and maritime industries.
OneWeb returns to the launchpad
in early 2023 to launch its ‘Three to Global
Reality’ campaign that will deliver its final
satellites into its LEO constellation and activate
coverage solutions globally.
Today, OneWeb continues working
with key distribution partners and customers to roll
out connectivity solutions everywhere above 50
degrees north, where its services are already live.
Neil Masterson, Chief Executive
Officer of OneWeb, commented: “This launch is an
immensely gratifying way to close out 2022, bringing
OneWeb another step closer to activating our
space-based connectivity globally and reflecting the
shared ambition and collective goodwill that is
driving the satellite communications industry. We
are thankful for the support of other leaders in the
space industry allowing us to quickly restart our
launch campaign and we are delighted to work with
SpaceX today for our first-ever launch from Florida,
the home where our satellites are manufactured. As
we look to our final ‘Three to Global Reality’
launches in the first half of 2023, we are thrilled
to see our connectivity footprint dramatically
expand from today, and to soon activate our network
globally to reach remote and under-served areas of
the world.”
|