OneWeb constellation

[deadman1204]

Yes and No.

They are totally being supported by government. The point of this statement is to define their place in the market. They need to answer the question "why oneweb instead of starlink".

Whether there is any truth in that statement is another thing. It is 100% pr

[gongora]

US DoD will be an anchor customer for several of these constellations (including SpaceX and Telesat).

https://twitter.com/CHenry_QA/status/1375533824885592064

"The US DoD is OneWeb’s largest single customer and so we will ensure we have the tools and vehicles in place to contract for service this November when our network goes live above the 50th parallel."

Interesting. DoD as biggest customer is not unlike traditional GEO operators.

https://www.oneweb.world/media-center/oneweb-welcomes-trustcomm-as-a-dod-distribution-partner

[high road]

Yes and No.

They are totally being supported by government. The point of this statement is to define their place in the market. They need to answer the question "why oneweb instead of starlink".

Whether there is any truth in that statement is another thing. It is 100% pr

Everyting ever said by someone representing a company is largely if not entirely PR. If their PR even says 'governments buy from more than one supplier' rather than 'we are better for this market segment because', that is telling.

And we'll see how their established-middle-men business strategy works out. I do believe that will make it easier to expand worldwide initially, but it will come at a hefty premium once Starlink gains access to more and more countries.

[Rondaz]

Russian Soyuz 2.1B Rocket Roll Out 03/20/2021

[Rondaz]

Will @OneWeb bring @LaserLightComms concept to fruition?"The Government-backed broadband venture OneWeb could use lasers in space to provide crucial back-up if undersea communication cables were attacked by hostile nations, The Mail on Sunday can reveal."

https://twitter.com/Megaconstellati/status/1375972210461044737

[Nomadd]

 I'm not exactly their biggest fan, but even if they only have 1/20th the capacity of Starlink and never make any real money, they have a point. Some government agencies won't want to be completely tied to one supplier. But with no residential service, no ISL for quite a while, and spending four times as much to manufacture and launch each far less capable bird, it doesn't seem likely they'll be any kind of competition for some time.
 If they can get ISL going, they'll have some business. I still think P-P without data ever touching the internet has quite a future.

[gongora]

OneWeb received their licenses for user terminals in the US, up to 400K dual-parabolic and 1.5M ESA.
https://fcc.report/IBFS/SES-LIC-20190930-01237
https://fcc.report/IBFS/SES-LIC-20190930-01217

[Rondaz]

OneWeb debuts in the Arctic this Fall

https://twitter.com/DylBrowne/status/1376583101619572737

[Rondaz]

Following our 5th successful launch last week, our team is already preparing for the next with the rocket already in waiting. In fact, they're so ready, they’ve even had time to make snowmen… we’ll let you decide which is more impressive!

https://twitter.com/OneWeb/status/1377252061641867265

[Rondaz]

Remote testing just got cooler 650 miles from the North Pole, our remote terminals have undergone 2 winters of network testing across the Arctic region, helping us prepare to deliver connectivity to the most remote areas of the globe.

https://twitter.com/OneWeb/status/1377682814292926465

[Rondaz]

Sending another 36 satellites in 10 days? That is #MarchMadness! But we did it! #teamwork #perseverance #OneWebLaunch..

https://twitter.com/OneWebSatellit1/status/1378393146137182210

[Rondaz]

Preparations for the launch of OneWeb satellites began at the Vostochny cosmodrome

04/06/2021 12:13

Today, April 6, 2021, preparations have begun at the Vostochny cosmodrome for the launch of the next batch of OneWeb spacecraft, scheduled for the end of April, using the Soyuz-2.1b launch vehicle and the Fregat upper stage.

On the eve of 36 new spacecraft from the OneWeb company, owned by the British government and the Bharti Global group of companies, arrived at Ignatievo airport (Blagoveshchensk) on an An-124-100 aircraft. Specialists of the Vostochny Space Center (a branch of the Center for Operation of Ground-Based Space Infrastructure Facilities, part of the Roscosmos State Corporation) delivered all 36 vehicles to the cosmodrome.

To date, the constellation of OneWeb satellites in low Earth orbit numbers 146 spacecraft, with hundreds of others planned to be launched. The upcoming launch should bring the number of OneWeb spacecraft in orbit to 182. OneWeb LEO spacecraft are designed to provide terrestrial consumers with high-speed Internet directly via satellite communications.

https://www.roscosmos.ru/30616/

[Robotbeat]

How much did OneWeb pay for each Soyuz launch?

[Scintillant]

How much did OneWeb pay for each Soyuz launch?

The initial contract with Arianespace was "over $1 billion" for 21 launches, which works out to just under $47 million per launch (probably more since the contract wasn't exactly $1 billion). Not sure if the later contract revisions or Oneweb's bankruptcy affected that cost per launch, but my understanding is that the modifications were reductions in launch numbers with corresponding reductions in cost.

Source: https://spaceflightnow.com/2015/07/01/oneweb-launch-deal-called-largest-commercial-rocket-buy-in-history/

[Rondaz]

Sources said about the postponement of the launch of the Soyuz rocket from the Kuru cosmodrome

03:05 04/07/2021

MOSCOW, April 7 - RIA Novosti. One of the three launches of Russian Soyuz-ST carrier rockets from the Kourou cosmodrome in French Guiana , scheduled for 2021, has been postponed until next year, two sources in the rocket and space industry told RIA Novosti.

"The launch of the Soyuz rocket with 34 British OneWeb satellites from Kourou, scheduled for December 2021, has been postponed, tentatively, to February 2022," the source said.

Another source confirmed this information, adding that now in 2021 two launches of Soyuz with Kuru are to take place: in October with 34 OneWeb vehicles and in November with two European navigation satellites Galileo.

RIA Novosti does not yet have a comment from Roscosmos .

Since October 2011, 25 Russian Soyuz-ST missiles have been launched from the Kuru cosmodrome. One of the launches in August 2014 ended with the launch of the European navigation satellites Galileo into an off-design orbit due to the accident of the Fregat upper stage.

https://ria.ru/20210407/soyuz-1727117974.html

[Rondaz]

"Our proposition is simple and compelling – fibre like connectivity where there is no fibre" - OneWeb CEO Neil Masterson at #SATshow #LEO

https://twitter.com/OneWeb/status/1379790047000588289

[Rondaz]

The source spoke about the Soyuz launches with OneWeb satellites in 2021.

03:04 11.04.2021

MOSCOW, April 11 - RIA Novosti. Three more launches of Soyuz-2 carrier rockets with British communication satellites OneWeb are planned to be performed from the Vostochny cosmodrome this year, in April, May and July, a source in the rocket and space industry told RIA Novosti.

The first launch of Soyuz-2 in 2021 with 36 OneWeb devices from Vostochny was carried out on March 25.

"Three more launches of the Soyuz-2.1b rocket with the Fregat upper stage from the Vostochny with 36 OneWeb satellites in each are scheduled for April 26, May 27 and July 1," the source said.

The contract between Arianespace and OneWeb for 21 launches of Soyuz rockets from the Baikonur, Vostochny and Kuru cosmodromes was signed in June 2015. In September 2020, OneWeb announced that the number of contracted Soyuz launches had been reduced to 19. Five have already been completed: two from Baikonur, two from Vostochny and one from Kuru, 146 satellites have been launched into orbit.

OneWeb expects to begin providing commercial satellite communications services in late 2021, and by the end of 2022, deploy a constellation of 648 satellites, which will provide broadband Internet access to users around the world with full coverage of the Earth's surface.

https://ria.ru/20210411/oneweb-1727740489.html

[Rondaz]

"SpaceX disabled its automated AI-powered collision avoidance system to allow OneWeb to steer its satellite out of the way...  "“What is the point of having it if you have to turn it off when there’s going to be a potential collision?” Victoria Samson of SWF

https://twitter.com/VSamson_DC/status/1381017659865698309

[woods170]

"SpaceX disabled its automated AI-powered collision avoidance system to allow OneWeb to steer its satellite out of the way...  "“What is the point of having it if you have to turn it off when there’s going to be a potential collision?” Victoria Samson of SWF

https://twitter.com/VSamson_DC/status/1381017659865698309

Fine example of someone not understanding that in space, there are no traffic rules (yet). The AI-powered collision avoidance system on Starlink operates on the assumption that the other involved orbiting object remains passive. In other words: the other involved object stays its course and ONLY the Starlink sat steers out of the way.

However, in this case OneWeb itself wanted to actively move their satellite. But given that there is no standard rule with regards to collision avoidance - who moves in what direction - having both objects actively moving might actually result in the objects inadvertantly turning into each other's direction.

So, when it became clear that OneWeb was moving their sat SpaceX disabled the AI collision avoidance system on their sat to prevent an inadvertant collision: by having their Starlink sat 'stay the course'.

As long as binding 'traffic rules' for all participants in (B)LEO spaceflight do not see the light of day, incidents like these will continue to happen.

[gongora]

So, when it became clear that OneWeb was moving their sat SpaceX disabled the AI collision avoidance system on their sat

OneWeb and SpaceX are able to email each other, it's not like they had to get out telescopes to see what was going on.