The British satellite communications company has announced that OneWeb will resume satellite launches at Elon Musk’s SpaceX after suspending launches from Russia’s Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
OneWeb does not disclose the terms of the new launch agreement.
OneWeb said in early March that Moscow’s space agency Roscosmos would suspend the launch after demanding assurance that the technology would not be used for military purposes.
The British government, which invests in OneWeb, said it is considering joining further projects with Russia after “illegal and provocative invasion of Ukraine.”
The UK company expects the first launch at SpaceX this year to increase the constellations of 428 satellites in orbit.
Neil Masterson, OneWeb’s Chief Executive Officer, said:
OneWeb, which provides broadband over 650 satellite constellations, was saved from bankruptcy by the British government and Bharti Global in 2020. Eutelsat Communications and SoftBank Group Corp. are other investors in the company.
SpaceX’s Starlink also uses low earth orbit satellites to provide Internet access to areas that other service providers do not or are difficult to reach.
Akash Shriram
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