OneWeb to Launch 40 Satellites With SpaceX

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OneWeb plans to launch 40 more LEO satellites with SpaceX to provide broadband service. The launch window opens today from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

This launch will be OneWeb’s 15th to-date, and its second since resuming its launch campaign with a successful flight from India in October. It says that places the company on track to deliver global coverage in 2023.

The new satellites will join 648 satellites already in space for the company. The latest launch means nearly 80 percent of its first-generation constellation that will deliver global wholesale connectivity will be complete. This marks the first time OneWeb will launch from Florida, where its satellites are produced by OneWeb Satellites – a joint venture between OneWeb and Airbus.  

OneWeb is among several LEO-based satellite broadband efforts the FCC has approved to promote broadband price and service competition, to advance the Internet of Things and 5G, and to help close the digital divide. OneWeb’s connectivity solutions are active in Alaska, Canada, the U.K., Greenland, and the wider Arctic area to provide internet connectivity to unserved and underserved rural and remote communities and businesses.

OneWeb says the launch will enable it to “significantly” expand service and initiate additional connectivity solutions soon for partners across the USA, Europe, and much of the Middle East and Asia. The expansion of the OneWeb fleet will also enable coverage between the South Pole and the 35th parallel south, opening up connectivity services in Southern Australia, South Africa, and parts of South America.

The launch is scheduled to take place no earlier than today at 5:37 p.m. ET. Watch the livestream on the SpaceX website.

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