OneWeb blasts back after it launches final set of satellites

OneWeb’s chairman said it got ‘naysayers’ wrong after it launched the last set of satellites needed to provide global coverage.

Sunil Bharti Mittal said Britain’s satellite business was “back on track” after launches from a Russian site in Kazakhstan were canceled last year following the invasion of Ukraine – which cost more than £250 million.

“I have to say that the situation looked very bleak at the time,” Mittal said.

It was the latest setback for the previously bankrupt company before being bailed out by the government in a deal advocated by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s former adviser, Dominic Cummings.

The latest launch of 36 satellites from India brings the total ‘constellation’ in orbit to 618 and should mean it will soon be able to offer global broadband coverage, a company spokesman said.

OneWeb, a rival to Elon Musk’s Starlink network, operates low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, which are intended to provide access to high-speed internet where traditional ground infrastructure is difficult to reach.

Applications include broadband in aircraft and parts of the developing world, as well as the furthest reaches of the UK.

Mittal, 65, said the suspension of launches from Kazakhstan had “put a lot of pressure on the company,” costing hundreds of millions of dollars and delayed eight or nine months.

But the completion of the last launch over the weekend – the third this year – means OneWeb will have 618 satellites in orbit.

It takes a total of 588 to run the network, with the rest serving as spares in case something needs to be replaced or repaired.

In Britain’s 2020 rescue of OneWeb, it took a 20 per cent stake for £420 million, a deal that went through despite reported opposition from senior government officials at the time.

Busy: OneWeb chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal (pictured) said UK satellite business was ‘back on track’

Last year it agreed a merger deal that will see it become part of Paris-listed Eutelsat – although the government retains a ‘golden share’ and the deal, which is expected to close soon, will eventually also give the company a secondary listing in London .

Mittal said the government took a “bold move” to support it, but it has now repaid that trust after raising billions from new investors, giving it a buffer that helped it weather the setback of the war in Ukraine. to resist.

“There were obviously naysayers [who said] this company would never be able to provide global services with the limited resources they have,” he said.

“We did that and everything is now ready to start global services.”

Mittal said OneWeb “will be able to provide what has been missing for a long time.”

The goal is to provide internet access that is both high speed and low latency – that is, not lagged in response when needed for live interactions, for example. Oil rigs, seagoing vessels and aircraft will benefit, the chairman added.

“Gone will be the days when you have a very snail’s pace of broadband availability on airplanes.”

The test results were “absolutely stunning,” Mittal said, adding: “Deserts, forests, mountains – the Himalayas – hard-to-reach areas will all be covered. We’re headed for something very, very special.

Like any other industry there will be competition and that is to be expected. Starlink is a serious player in this market and has launched thousands of satellites and provides services in most parts of the world. So we have some catching up to do.

“But I’m happy to report that demand seems very robust.”

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine means that, along with countries like China and North Korea, it won’t be a market for OneWeb’s service.

But the company plans to expand to other parts of the world, from Canada and the US to Europe, the Middle East, Australia, India, Africa and Latin America. Aid organizations and security forces are among the potential customers.

“The most important and critical task of putting satellites into space is now behind us,” Mittal said. “The rest of the work is now a matter of a few months before global coverage becomes a reality.”