Interview with OneWeb CEO:https://www.spaceintelreport.com/interview-eric-beranger-chief-executive-onewebIs it me, or is he a little cagey about financing ... ?!
How does a boat in the Pacific get OneWeb?Very easily. We have simple terminals that are very easy to use.But how does the signal get landed? You don’t have intersatellite links.We have a network of gateway Earth stations that are cleverly distributed, in such a way that to this user it will be exactly like using a normal landline.
Quote from: FutureSpaceTourist on 03/22/2017 01:32 pmInterview with OneWeb CEO:https://www.spaceintelreport.com/interview-eric-beranger-chief-executive-onewebIs it me, or is he a little cagey about financing ... ?!The whole thing sounds weird. Ground stations??? What's the point, then?QuoteHow does a boat in the Pacific get OneWeb?Very easily. We have simple terminals that are very easy to use.But how does the signal get landed? You don’t have intersatellite links.We have a network of gateway Earth stations that are cleverly distributed, in such a way that to this user it will be exactly like using a normal landline.
Quote from: WmThomas on 03/22/2017 02:28 pmQuote from: FutureSpaceTourist on 03/22/2017 01:32 pmInterview with OneWeb CEO:https://www.spaceintelreport.com/interview-eric-beranger-chief-executive-onewebIs it me, or is he a little cagey about financing ... ?!The whole thing sounds weird. Ground stations??? What's the point, then?QuoteHow does a boat in the Pacific get OneWeb?Very easily. We have simple terminals that are very easy to use.But how does the signal get landed? You don’t have intersatellite links.We have a network of gateway Earth stations that are cleverly distributed, in such a way that to this user it will be exactly like using a normal landline.Ever since the first constellation concepts, there were two schools of thought - have the satellites simply be last-mile collection mechanisms that use ground stations to hook up to terrestrial long haul nets, or have the satellites also create the backbone itself.SpaceX is going for the second, much more complex, but also more lucrative, option. OneWeb is going for the simpler idea, but it means they are "captive" by the existing long haul infrastructure providers
Quote from: meekGee on 03/23/2017 01:32 amQuote from: WmThomas on 03/22/2017 02:28 pmQuote from: FutureSpaceTourist on 03/22/2017 01:32 pmInterview with OneWeb CEO:https://www.spaceintelreport.com/interview-eric-beranger-chief-executive-onewebIs it me, or is he a little cagey about financing ... ?!The whole thing sounds weird. Ground stations??? What's the point, then?QuoteHow does a boat in the Pacific get OneWeb?Very easily. We have simple terminals that are very easy to use.But how does the signal get landed? You don’t have intersatellite links.We have a network of gateway Earth stations that are cleverly distributed, in such a way that to this user it will be exactly like using a normal landline.Ever since the first constellation concepts, there were two schools of thought - have the satellites simply be last-mile collection mechanisms that use ground stations to hook up to terrestrial long haul nets, or have the satellites also create the backbone itself.SpaceX is going for the second, much more complex, but also more lucrative, option. OneWeb is going for the simpler idea, but it means they are "captive" by the existing long haul infrastructure providersTrue, but if OneWeb is successful with their first constellation, they'll have the money to add intersatellite links in a follow-on generation if its determined to be useful. There's something to be said for keeping the amount of capital for their first system in an achievable range, and getting to market quicker. But long-term I hope they add intersatellite links, and if possible the ability to provide intersatellite links to 3rd party spacecraft/space facilities to their 2nd generation constellation. But getting the first one flying is a big enough first step.~Jon
Start-up satellite constellation operator OneWeb on May 19 told U.S. regulators that it would be able to provide broadband access to all of Alaska in 2019....OneWeb, which for regulatory purposes is also known as WorldVu Satellites, said its final assembly line for the first 10 of its 880 satellites would be in operation at the Airbus Defence and Space plant in Toulouse, France, in June....Full production-rate launches, aboard Europeanized Russian Soyuz rockets, is expected to start by the end of 2018...OneWeb has raised $1.7 billion, with the latest investment of $1.2 billion coming from SoftBank of Japan. SoftBank is organizing the acquisition of venerable satellite fleet operator Intelsat by offering some Intelsat bondholders to exchange their debt for cash and debt.The transaction has struggled to win bondholder support. SoftBank recently sweetened the offer and extended its deadline for acceptance to May 31.
At #OneWeb request, @Arianespace looking to increase Soyuz sat-dispenser capacity to 36 150-kg OneWeb sats, from 32: Arianespace's Breton.
Just to give some context, Iridium's revenue is over 4 times that of Globalstar, and that's before Iridium's more ambitious second generation constellation has been activated.Can you guess which one (Iridium or Globalstar) has satellite interconnects and which one doesn't?SpaceX's ambition with their constellation is a factor of 10 and perhaps 100 times that of OneWeb's.Not just number of satellites, but throughput per satellite, low altitude, satellite interconnect. Per-user bandwidth. Latency. User terminals. Everything.The SpaceX constellation is JUST as ambitious as ITS is.
LUXEMBOURG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun. 1, 2017-- Intelsat S.A. (NYSE:I) (“Intelsat”) today announced that the previously announced (i) offer or offers to exchange (collectively, the “Exchange Offers”) certain of the respective outstanding senior unsecured notes (the “Existing Notes”) issued by its indirect wholly-owned subsidiaries, Intelsat Jackson Holdings S.A., Intelsat Connect Finance S.A., and Intelsat (Luxembourg) S.A. (collectively, the “Issuers”) and (ii) solicitation or solicitations of consents (collectively, the “Consent Solicitations”) to amend the indentures governing the Existing Notes expired pursuant to their terms at 12:00 midnight, New York City time, on May 31, 2017. As of the expiration date, the minimum tender conditions for the Exchange Offers and Consent Solicitations had not been satisfied. The Issuers have not accepted any of the Existing Notes for exchange, any Existing Notes tendered for exchange will be promptly returned to holders, and the Exchange Offers and Consent Solicitations have accordingly been terminated.The Exchange Offers and Consent Solicitations were conducted pursuant to the Combination Agreement, dated as of February 28, 2017 (as amended by that certain First Amendment to and Waiver Relating to the Combination Agreement, dated May 17, 2017, the “Combination Agreement”), between Intelsat and WorldVu Satellites Limited (“OneWeb”), pursuant to which Intelsat and OneWeb would combine through a merger, and the related Share Purchase Agreement, dated as of February 28, 2017 (as amended by that certain First Amendment to and Agreement Relating to the Share Purchase Agreement, dated as of May 17, 2017, the “Share Purchase Agreement”) among Intelsat, SoftBank Group Corp. (“SoftBank”) and OneWeb, pursuant to which SoftBank would make a cash investment in exchange for common and preferred shares of the combined company contemporaneous with the closing under the Combination Agreement. The successful completion of the Exchange Offers would have satisfied a condition to completion of the transactions under the Combination Agreement and the Share Purchase Agreement. Intelsat has notified OneWeb and SoftBank of the failure to consummate the Exchange Offers.As a result of the termination of the Exchange Offers, Intelsat currently expects that OneWeb and SoftBank will exercise their respective termination rights under the Combination Agreement and related Share Purchase Agreement on June 2.Intelsat CEO Stephen Spengler said, “There were many stakeholders’ interests that needed to be satisfied in this complex transaction. We are disappointed that our bondholders were unwilling to accept the terms of the exchange offers presented over the course of this process. Even without a merger of our companies, the pre-existing commercial agreement among Intelsat, OneWeb and SoftBank will continue. Under this agreement, we plan to jointly develop integrated solutions utilizing both of our fleets and to act as a sub-distributor to SoftBank for the attractive application segments of mobility, energy, government, and connected car. As we create integrated services for these applications, we expect to accelerate and enhance our goal of unlocking new and larger opportunities in the communications landscape. We remain focused on achieving our operating priorities for 2017, including the continued commercialization of our Intelsat EpicNG® high throughput satellite services.”
OneWeb1/ @greg_wyler confirms Intelsat deal dead; to inaugurate Toulouse sat prod line (1st 10 sats) June 27; these sats launch spring 2018.
It seems kind of optimistic for them to expect to launch 10 satellites in the Spring if they haven't even inaugurated the assembly line. But who knows? Maybe they can do it.
QuoteOneWeb1/ @greg_wyler confirms Intelsat deal dead; to inaugurate Toulouse sat prod line (1st 10 sats) June 27; these sats launch spring 2018.https://twitter.com/pbdes/status/870899590572240896
Intelsat CEO Stephen Spengler said, “There were many stakeholders’ interests that needed to be satisfied in this complex transaction. We are disappointed that our bondholders were unwilling to accept the terms of the exchange offers presented over the course of this process.
