Eutelsat OneWeb: Constellation - General Thread

[su27k]

Are we really arguing if Elon/SpaceX wants easy money and good PR?  Seriously??

If OneWeb asks, and pays, SpaceX will launch as they can fit them in.

Yeah but can SpaceX fit OneWeb in this year? Their manifest is already crowded as it is, I don't think SpaceX would refuse the business, but I'm not sure they'd give OneWeb priority unless there's a big incentive.

[rklaehn]

Are we really arguing if Elon/SpaceX wants easy money and good PR?  Seriously??

If OneWeb asks, and pays, SpaceX will launch as they can fit them in.

Yeah but can SpaceX fit OneWeb in this year? Their manifest is already crowded as it is, I don't think SpaceX would refuse the business, but I'm not sure they'd give OneWeb priority unless there's a big incentive.

I am sure they could fit them in. Oneweb is polar, so they could launch from Vandenberg, which is not at its limit even this year.

https://www.spacelaunchschedule.com/category/vandenberg-sfb/

[Rekt1971]

Are we really arguing if Elon/SpaceX wants easy money and good PR?  Seriously??

If OneWeb asks, and pays, SpaceX will launch as they can fit them in.

Yeah but can SpaceX fit OneWeb in this year? Their manifest is already crowded as it is, I don't think SpaceX would refuse the business, but I'm not sure they'd give OneWeb priority unless there's a big incentive.

I am sure they could fit them in. Oneweb is polar, so they could launch from Vandenberg, which is not at its limit even this year.

https://www.spacelaunchschedule.com/category/vandenberg-sfb/

There will be Starlink launches from VSFB which are not listed on the website.

[Yggdrasill]

They may have capacity, though when is not known.

SpaceX will in all likelihood at some point switch production over from Starlink V1 to Starlink V2. At that point they just need to get the remaining V1 sats into orbit, and then the rest is up to Starship. Leaving Falcon 9 with plenty of spare capacity.

If finishing the Oneweb constellation takes like six Falcon 9 launches during 2022, it might delay Starlink V1 deployment by something like six weeks, but not affect Starlink V2 or the completion of the constellation as a whole by any amount of time.

This could be acceptable for SpaceX.

[Rondaz]

The rocket with OneWeb satellites was taken to the assembly building, the source said.

Soyuz-2.1b rocket with OneWeb satellites was taken to the assembly building to remove the head part.

03:09 03/06/2022 (updated: 03:10 03/06/2022)

MOSCOW, March 6 - RIA Novosti. The Soyuz-2.1b rocket with the Fregat upper stage and OneWeb spacecraft has been delivered to the assembly and test building, the dismantling of the head part will take place during the holidays, a source in Baikonur told RIA Novosti.

On Friday, Roscosmos canceled the launch of British communications satellites OneWeb , which was supposed to take place the next day.

"The work schedule is still in development, it should be agreed upon by a bunch of specialists. However, we hope that the transportation of the warhead from the assembly and test building after dismantling will be soon after the holidays," the source said.

Earlier, the same source said that it would take at least a week to dismantle the satellites, and after they were removed, foreign specialists would seal the room where they would be stored.

The launch of OneWeb was planned for Saturday, however, due to the international situation, it turned out to be in doubt. On March 2, Rogozin set out the conditions for the launch: comprehensive legal guarantees that OneWeb would not use these satellites for military purposes and would not provide these services to the relevant military departments.

Another condition was the withdrawal of the British government from the shareholders of OneWeb. The OneWeb Board of Directors eventually voted to suspend all launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome . British Minister for Business, Energy and Industry Kwasi Kwarteng noted that the UK government is not selling its stake in OneWeb.

The decision to cancel the launch and stop work on the next launches was made on Friday at a meeting of the commission at Baikonur.

OneWeb satellites are designed to create a space communication system that provides high-speed Internet access anywhere in the world .

https://ria.ru/20220306/oneweb-1776869270.html

[M.E.T.]

They may have capacity, though when is not known.

SpaceX will in all likelihood at some point switch production over from Starlink V1 to Starlink V2. At that point they just need to get the remaining V1 sats into orbit, and then the rest is up to Starship. Leaving Falcon 9 with plenty of spare capacity.

If finishing the Oneweb constellation takes like six Falcon 9 launches during 2022, it might delay Starlink V1 deployment by something like six weeks, but not affect Starlink V2 or the completion of the constellation as a whole by any amount of time.

This could be acceptable for SpaceX.

Wait, what? Are you suggesting SpaceX would DELAY Starlink deployment in order to accommodate OneWeb at short notice?

What possible motivation would they have to do that?

[Tommyboy]

They may have capacity, though when is not known.

SpaceX will in all likelihood at some point switch production over from Starlink V1 to Starlink V2. At that point they just need to get the remaining V1 sats into orbit, and then the rest is up to Starship. Leaving Falcon 9 with plenty of spare capacity.

If finishing the Oneweb constellation takes like six Falcon 9 launches during 2022, it might delay Starlink V1 deployment by something like six weeks, but not affect Starlink V2 or the completion of the constellation as a whole by any amount of time.

This could be acceptable for SpaceX.

Wait, what? Are you suggesting SpaceX would DELAY Starlink deployment in order to accommodate OneWeb at short notice?

What possible motivation would they have to do that?

Money, preventing from becomming a monopoly (remember Microsoft investing in Apple?), creating goodwill, bragging rights.

[DanClemmensen]

They may have capacity, though when is not known.

SpaceX will in all likelihood at some point switch production over from Starlink V1 to Starlink V2. At that point they just need to get the remaining V1 sats into orbit, and then the rest is up to Starship. Leaving Falcon 9 with plenty of spare capacity.

If finishing the Oneweb constellation takes like six Falcon 9 launches during 2022, it might delay Starlink V1 deployment by something like six weeks, but not affect Starlink V2 or the completion of the constellation as a whole by any amount of time.

This could be acceptable for SpaceX.

Wait, what? Are you suggesting SpaceX would DELAY Starlink deployment in order to accommodate OneWeb at short notice?

What possible motivation would they have to do that?

Money, preventing from becomming a monopoly (remember Microsoft investing in Apple?), creating goodwill, bragging rights.

I think F9 must launch from Vandenberg to reach the OneWeb orbits. Therefore, they compete against other Vandenberg launches, not against all SpaceX launches. Only a small percentage of Starlink launches use Vandenberg, right? I do not know the constraints on the number of F9 Vandenberg launches. Site availability and recovery ship turnaround time may be bigger constraints than booster availability or operations personnel. Hawthorne can build enough boosters and second stages to meet demand, I think, but getting additional launch slots at Vandenberg, or deciding to pay for a second recovery fleet might be harder.

Where do Vandenberg F9 boosters go for refurbishment? Does this compete against refurbishment of Florida F9 boosters?

[Tomness]

[Snip]

Where do Vandenberg F9 boosters go for refurbishment? Does this compete against refurbishment of Florida F9 boosters?

No, they are refurbished in Hawthorn. They have a FH Hanger. They can store 3-4 boosters.

[woods170]

They may have capacity, though when is not known.

SpaceX will in all likelihood at some point switch production over from Starlink V1 to Starlink V2. At that point they just need to get the remaining V1 sats into orbit, and then the rest is up to Starship. Leaving Falcon 9 with plenty of spare capacity.

If finishing the Oneweb constellation takes like six Falcon 9 launches during 2022, it might delay Starlink V1 deployment by something like six weeks, but not affect Starlink V2 or the completion of the constellation as a whole by any amount of time.

This could be acceptable for SpaceX.

Wait, what? Are you suggesting SpaceX would DELAY Starlink deployment in order to accommodate OneWeb at short notice?

What possible motivation would they have to do that?

Other than gaining some quick cash?  The answer is that SpaceX has nothing to gain from that.

[woods170]

Wait, what? Are you suggesting SpaceX would DELAY Starlink deployment in order to accommodate OneWeb at short notice?

What possible motivation would they have to do that?

Money, preventing from becomming a monopoly (remember Microsoft investing in Apple?), creating goodwill, bragging rights.

Money: yes

Preventing from becoming a monopoly: No. There is no monopoly. OneWeb is already up there and several other "Internet from space" systems exist and are operational, such as Viasat.

Creating goodwill: SpaceX is not in need of that. They already have all the goodwill they need to reach their goals.

Bragging rights: Not needed. SpaceX already has all the bragging rights they can get. Starlink is far superior to OneWeb, and both OneWeb AND SpaceX know that.

[Danderman]

Depriving other launch providers a major customer.

[woods170]

Depriving other launch providers a major customer.

No.

After the disaster that was "OneWeb on Soyuz exclusively" it is a given that OneWeb will now spread its remaining launches over more than one provider.


Remaining launches will not go to SpaceX. At least, not exclusively.

[JayWee]

Any idea how long it takes from order to launch for different rockets?

[mn]

SpaceX could barter for OneWeb dropping all their anti starlink fcc bs?

Perhaps?

[LouScheffer]

Depriving other launch providers a major customer.

No.

Yes.  Neutron, if built as planned, could be their strongest competitor.   But they are going to need to raise money.  A juicy contract with OneWeb would help them immensely in fundraising, both by a vote of confidence in their technology, and a certain money source if they can get Neutron working.  OneWeb contracts with other existing suppliers are no big deal, as  they won't change anyone's opinion, but SpaceX should compete hard with RocketLab, who are most likely to pose a serious threat.

[Redclaws]

Any idea how long it takes from order to launch for different rockets?

Depends entirely on the queue.  But, also if we’re talking about non-Russian rockets, almost the only medium or heavy lift launcher currently flying and taking orders is the Falcon 9 family.  (For this purpose the Falcon Heavy isn’t counted separately since it draws from basically the same queue of rockets/parts.)  The only other options are whatever ISRO is flying.  That’s a bit of an oof.

Ariane 5, Atlas V, and Delta IV are all done/spoken for.  Antares … well, yeah.  Ariane 6 and Vulcan are in the uncertain near-ish future, and New Glen and Neutron are even further out.

So it seems like the only options are the F9 family and whatever ISRO has available.  Maybe JAXA/Mitsubishi would sell you something but I doubt it.

[meekGee]

SpaceX could barter for OneWeb dropping all their anti starlink fcc bs?

Perhaps?

THAT is an interesting trade.

Launch at regular price, but sooner than anyone else can offer, for exactly that.

Sadly, you may have just found the reason OneWeb won't launch on SpaceX though...  A little test of corporate character which I'm not optimistic they'll pass.

[Redclaws]

SpaceX could barter for OneWeb dropping all their anti starlink fcc bs?

Perhaps?

THAT is an interesting trade.

Launch at regular price, but sooner than anyone else can offer, for exactly that.

Sadly, you may have just found the reason OneWeb won't launch on SpaceX though...  A little test of corporate character which I'm not optimistic they'll pass.

Frankly it seems they have a much greater likelihood of success via that route than via true competition (though they may be able to manage a solid second place).  Litigation is almost certainly their only route to taking more of the market than Starlink - they seem quite far behind in various ways.

[Nomadd]

They may have capacity, though when is not known.

SpaceX will in all likelihood at some point switch production over from Starlink V1 to Starlink V2. At that point they just need to get the remaining V1 sats into orbit, and then the rest is up to Starship. Leaving Falcon 9 with plenty of spare capacity.

If finishing the Oneweb constellation takes like six Falcon 9 launches during 2022, it might delay Starlink V1 deployment by something like six weeks, but not affect Starlink V2 or the completion of the constellation as a whole by any amount of time.

This could be acceptable for SpaceX.

Wait, what? Are you suggesting SpaceX would DELAY Starlink deployment in order to accommodate OneWeb at short notice?

What possible motivation would they have to do that?

The perception that they're not trying to take advantage of the war.