As per the reports, the post-Brexit space ambitions have officially started. Satellite operator OneWeb has released 36 satellites to compete with SpaceX, a space exploration technology company owned by Elon Musk, to provide broadband Internet services from space.
Today, OneWeb released these satellites at the Vostochny cosmodrome in eastern Russia. This is also the first release of OneWeb since it emerged from bankruptcy.
OneWeb is a satellite Internet company headquartered in London, but a massive number of operations are located in the United States. The company has been building a low-earth orbit satellite network to provide Internet services to remote areas outside of cities.
Presently, OneWeb has 74 satellites in orbit. According to the original plan, OneWeb will totally deployment of 648 satellites in 2021, and finally, achieve global coverage of more than 1980 satellites.
But in March this year, OneWeb filed for bankruptcy. OneWeb pointed out at the time that the market turmoil caused by the new crown virus epidemic prevented the company from obtaining the necessary funds. Prior to this, OneWeb had raised approximately US$3.3 billion from shareholders such as SoftBank Group, Airbus, and Qualcomm.
The United Kingdom has also proposed to develop its own independent satellite navigation system, but it may cost 4 to 5 billion pounds, and the acquisition of OneWeb may allow the UK to obtain satellite navigation and positioning capabilities at a lower price.
(Via)
