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posted by martyb on Monday November 30 2020, @07:26PM   Printer-friendly
from the good-luck-with-that dept.

OneWeb exits bankruptcy and is ready to launch more broadband satellites

OneWeb has emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy under new ownership and says it will begin launching more broadband satellites next month. Similar to SpaceX Starlink, OneWeb is building a network of low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellites that can provide high-speed broadband with much lower latencies than traditional geostationary satellites.

After a launch in December, "launches will continue throughout 2021 and 2022, and OneWeb is now on track to begin commercial connectivity services to the UK and the Arctic region in late 2021 and will expand to delivering global services in 2022," OneWeb said in an announcement Friday.

[...] OneWeb previously launched 74 satellites into low-Earth orbits and said it plans a launch of 36 more satellites on December 17, 2020. The Friday announcement also said OneWeb plans "a constellation of 650 LEO satellites," but that could be just the beginning. OneWeb in August secured US approval for 1,280 satellites in medium Earth orbits, bringing its total authorization to 2,000 satellites.

Previously: SpaceX Approved to Deploy 1 Million U.S. Starlink Terminals; OneWeb Reportedly Considers Bankruptcy
OneWeb Goes Bankrupt, Lays Off Staff, Will Sell Satellite-Broadband Business
OneWeb Seeks Permission to Launch 48,000 Satellites Despite Bankruptcy
UK Government and Indian Mobile Operator Acquire OneWeb and its Broadband Satellites


Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 30 2020, @09:28PM (6 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 30 2020, @09:28PM (#1082562)

    Not sure why these guys would be at risk of bankruptcy; surely a preemptive approach to global politics (such as the Lend-Lease Policy [wikipedia.org]) would see the US .gov sponsor free Internet for the first million-or-three Chinese users ..?

  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by mhajicek on Monday November 30 2020, @09:52PM (5 children)

    by mhajicek (51) on Monday November 30 2020, @09:52PM (#1082573)

    Oneweb wants their constellations at 1200KM altitude. At that altitude they'll have higher latency that Starlink, and their satellites will not naturally reenter at EOL. I seem to recall that latter bit was giving them trouble with gaining authorization.

    --
    The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
    • (Score: 4, Interesting) by takyon on Monday November 30 2020, @10:23PM (4 children)

      by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Monday November 30 2020, @10:23PM (#1082584) Journal

      SpaceX originally planned to have satellites at 1100-1275 km, and they are still on the hook for that until their modifications are approved:

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlink#Constellation_design_and_status [wikipedia.org]

      The lower orbiting satellites may allow users to have higher upload speeds.

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      • (Score: 4, Informative) by mhajicek on Tuesday December 01 2020, @05:00AM (3 children)

        by mhajicek (51) on Tuesday December 01 2020, @05:00AM (#1082701)
        --
        The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
        • (Score: 3, Funny) by DannyB on Tuesday December 01 2020, @04:08PM (2 children)

          by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday December 01 2020, @04:08PM (#1082841) Journal

          Very interesting.

          So Amazon is developing its own internet service satellite fustercluck.

          I wonder if development of this will happen at the same breakneck speed as that of Blue Origin?

          --
          People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
          • (Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday December 01 2020, @04:54PM (1 child)

            by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Tuesday December 01 2020, @04:54PM (#1082856) Journal

            It will happen at the same breakneck speed, but with a time lag since they need the rockets first.

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            [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
            • (Score: 3, Funny) by DannyB on Tuesday December 01 2020, @06:18PM

              by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday December 01 2020, @06:18PM (#1082896) Journal

              I don't see a problem. It would seem that SLS will be ready to provide commercial launch services at $2 Billion per launch at about the same time as Amazon is ready to buy launch services.

              --
              People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.