Bharti group-backed Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite communications company OneWeb on Monday confirmed the successful launch of another batch of 36 satellites by Arianespace from the Vostochny Cosmodrome.
This successful launch brings OneWeb's total in-orbit constellation to 182 satellites.
These will form part of OneWeb's 648 LEO satellite fleet that will deliver high-speed, low-latency global connectivity, and represents 60 percent of the constellation required to enable its connectivity solution to reach all regions north of 50 degrees latitude by June 2021, the company said in a statement.
"With this successful launch, we are rapidly building momentum, we are launching more satellites, demonstrating the network and announcing more distribution singings around the globe," said Neil Masterson, CEO, OneWeb.
This was the third in a five-launch 'Five to 50' programme, enabling OneWeb to offer services across the UK, Alaska, Northern Europe, Greenland, Iceland, the Artic Seas and Canada, and will be switched on before the end of the year.
OneWeb then intends to make global service available in 2022.
OneWeb signed an MoU with the government of Kazakhstan this month as it continues to demonstrate the company's commercial viability and the confidence customers have in its services and offering.
