Russia launches 36 UK telecom satellites from Vostochny, aims to provide fast broadband

On December 18, Russia launched a fleet of 36 satellite into the targeted orbit on a Soyuz launch vehicle from the Vostochny Cosmodrome. The historic launch at 12:26 GMT was a part of the UK government and Indian conglomerate Bharti Global’s operator OneWeb’s 648 Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite programme which will provide fast, high-speed, low-latency global connectivity. Friday’s launch brought the total in-orbit launch to 110 satellites. “Today’s launch is one of many steps we have taken to operationalize one of the world’s first LEO constellations which clearly demonstrates we are on our way to achieving our mission,” Founder and Chairman of Bharti Enterprises, Sunil Bharti Mittal said in a statement. Today is a very important day for OneWeb. Our #OneWebLaunch will add another 36 satellites to our constellation. This is our third launch in 2020 and will bring our total in-orbit constellation to 110 satellites – designed to deliver high-speed, low-latency global connectivity! pic.twitter.com/WcGfY1iF4i — OneWeb (@OneWeb) December 18, 2020 Congratulations to everyone at @OneWeb on a successful launch today! It takes us one step closer to connecting people across the globe with fast UK-backed broadband 🚀🛰️#OneWebLaunch https://t.co/pcLpCrOjwQ — Alok Sharma (@AlokSharma_RDG) December 18, 2020 The satellite communications company streamed the lift-off live as the satellites detached from the rocket and dispensed within 3 hours 52 minutes in at least nine batches. The launch of the new batch was a contract signed between French company Ariane Space, Russia’s Roscosmos, NPO Lavochkina, and the Center for Operation of Ground-Based Space Infrastructure Facilities. Eight @OneWeb satellites have been released with the first two payload separations from Soyuz. #ST29 #OneWebLaunch — Arianespace (@Arianespace) December 18, 2020 #ICYMI, today’s launch carrying 36 satellites from the Vostochny Cosmodrome had successful lift-off 🚀 – check it out below 👇 pic.twitter.com/1RixZwfdSO — OneWeb (@OneWeb) December 18, 2020 As the company now prepares for at least 50 more satellite launches to complete the project, it hopes to make the fast internet available to UK customers in 2021 and in India by mid-2022. In the months ahead, all the satellites launched at an altitude of 450 km need to be maneuvered at least 1,200 km above the Earth, which the scientists will monitor. WebOne informed that these satellites will enable global services in Alaska, Northern Europe, Greenland, Iceland, the Arctic Seas, and Canada in 2021 apart from the just UK. The 1st fully commercial launch🚀 from #Vostochny is a success! @glavkosmosJSC has fulfilled its contractual obligations and all 36 #OneWeb satellites🛰️ have been injected into target orbits and connected by the customers! Great job! pic.twitter.com/hDV8Z2G9XR — GLAVKOSMOS (@glavkosmosJSC) December 18, 2020 Read: Germany Blocks Acquisition Of Satellite Firm By Chinese Company Citing National Security Read: SpaceX Launches Nextgen Satellite For SiriusXM Fast broadband globally “It’s inspiring to be part of a fast-returning organization refocused on our mission of bringing connectivity to everyone, everywhere. Each launch moves us closer to our goal of building this much needed global, secure, trusted, enterprise-grade broadband network, powered from space. We look forward to offering our commercial services to global users,” OneWeb CEO, Neil Masterson said. According to the Chairman of Bharti Enterprises, the coronavirus pandemic has created an overwhelming demand for fast broadband service globally. Therefore, OneWeb aims to deliver broadband connectivity to communities, towns, and regions left unconnected or under-connected. #OneWeb: T+09:21 min → third stage cut-off and separation of the orbital block. In the next 3.5 hours according to the flight sequence, the spacecraft will separate from the booster. Stay tuned! pic.twitter.com/C15eLRkqnw — РОСКОСМОС (@roscosmos) December 18, 2020 Read: Countdown Begins For Launch Of Communication Satellite CMS-01 On-board PSLV-C50 Read: ISRO Launches PSLV-C50 Carrying India's 42nd Communication Satellite From Sriharikota

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Russia launches 36 UK telecom satellites from Vostochny, aims to provide fast broadband

The launch in Russia was a part of the UK government and Indian conglomerate Bharti Global’s operator OneWeb’s 648 Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite programme.

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