Not so long ago on Habré several materials were published at once about a joint project with Russia by OneWeb. The company offered to provide a certain percentage of the assets of the Russian Federation in exchange for operating frequencies to ensure the operation of satellite communications in Russia. As part of the joint project, it was planned to send satellites into orbit using Soyuz rockets.
The OneWeb joint venture was created by OneWeb together with the Gonets Satellite System JSC. 51% of the enterprise belonged to the Russian side. The first satellites in the amount of six were already launched in February 2019, 34 more - in March 2020. But then problems began.
Frequency problem
Several years ago, the company submitted several applications to the State Commission on Radio Frequencies for a certain frequency spectrum in the Russian Federation. These applications were not satisfied, and the FSB representative announced that the company and its project pose a threat to the national security of the Russian Federation and can be used for intelligence purposes.
The application was pending consideration and implementation for three years. But the Russian side did not fulfill the desired actions, so the application was withdrawn to be supplemented with information "in accordance with the requirements of the law." Moreover, at the beginning of last year, the FSB banned the import of mobile satellite terminals into the Russian Federation by organizations that are telecom operators. This decision made the already difficult OneWeb project more difficult.
The department even suggesteddeploy its own satellite communications system with the participation of China, India and other countries that "do not pursue an aggressive policy towards Russia."
Now the foreign company has decided to withdraw from the project, which, apparently, cannot be implemented.
OneWeb financial problems
It may seem strange that a company that filed for bankruptcy back in March this year is actively involved in various projects. But satellite internet operator OneWeb is not all that bad.
The company had to file for bankruptcy because the main investor, Softbank, did not provide a $ 2 billion investment. Negotiations on the allocation of funds fell through just hours before the launch of 34 OneWeb satellites into orbit in March 2020.
A few months later, the provider received an offer from the British government. It consists in buying 20% of the company for $ 500 million. The document has already been signed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson and British Finance Minister Rishi Sunak. According to government officials, such a deal is an excellent opportunity to get your own navigation system. A little later, the Indian telecommunications company Bharti Global was connected to the project, which promised to allocate another $ 500 million.
Why is the OneWeb satellite network interested in foggy Albion? The fact is that after leaving the EU, the UK can no longer use Galileo satellites. The government considered building its own network, but the project proved prohibitively expensive.
A host of plans
OneWeb was able to attract another $ 140 million in investment, which enabled the company to continue to develop and launch satellites. By the way, the development is being carried out jointly with Airbus.
What's more, at the end of last month, OneWeb secured an additional $ 235 million in interim funding through the courts in order to ensure the continuity of the satellite launch.
OneWeb will spend about $ 133 million this year on satellites. $ 37 million will go to pay for the launch of carrier rockets with satellites.
What about satellite output?
OneWeb has now revised its contract with Arianspace, one of the contractors for the launch of satellites into orbit. The launch of the Arianspace media had to be canceled. In addition, OneWeb has also reduced the number of launches planned jointly with Roskosmos. Two launches had to be canceled.
As a result, 16 launches will be performed for OneWeb, each of which should put 34-36 satellites into orbit. Two launches will be carried out from French Guiana, the rest - from Baikonur and the Vostochny cosmodrome. The last launch is scheduled for December 2020. 36 OneWeb satellites will be launched into orbit by the Soyuz-2.1b launch vehicle.
A total of 650 satellites are planned to be launched into orbit by about 2022. There are now 74 broadband low-orbit satellites in orbit. After the constellation is ready, the satellite Internet with the entire infrastructure will be put into operation. As a result, the network will cover the entire planet, including Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, and Great Britain.
Each satellite received two solar batteries and a plasma engine. They are launched into orbit with an altitude of 1200 kilometers. The service life of each of the satellites is 5 years.
Plans for the future
The company has planned to increase the number of satellites by several times - from 650 to 48,000. If this goal is met, the network bandwidth will significantly increase for all users, and the delays, on the contrary, will decrease.
“OneWeb is building a truly global communications network to bring high speed, low latency broadband communications around the world. Our current situation is a consequence of the economic fallout from the COVID-19 crisis, ”CEO Adrian Steckel said on Twitter.
As for the work of OneWeb, the company intends not to supply communication services directly to consumers, but to cooperate with the largest telecommunication companies in the world. According to the plan, it is the partners of the satellite Internet provider that should provide their customers with access to communications from OneWeb. Satellite Internet would be very useful for remote and hard-to-reach regions and ships. According to company representatives, the user can be in a car, helicopter, on a mountain top, anywhere in the world - communication will always be available.
In general, OneWeb, apparently, will still be able to implement its project, which cannot but rejoice, because in a few years it will be possible to connect to the network from anywhere in the world.
