NEW DELHI- After a long pause caused by the conflict in Ukraine, India intervened to maintain the satellite constellation's growth early on Oct. 23 with the deployment of a rocket carrying 36 commercial broadband satellites.
As per Taipei Times, the London-based OneWeb's launch from southern India was its first since parting ways with the Russian Space Agency in March over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
S. Somanath remarked, that they had completed the orbit quite precisely, and the rocket was now in its desired orbit. According to the head of India's space program, 16 satellites had been launched into orbit, and he was confident that the remaining twenty satellites would get detached as securely as the first sixteen.
OneWeb currently has 462 operational satellites, which exceeds 70% of what the business estimates it would require to offer broadband services globally. OneWeb claimed that despite the inconvenience this year, it is still on target to launch its intended network of 648 satellites and begin providing worldwide coverage in 2019. Within the most northern latitudes, it is already in operation, according to a report from Phys.
India's Largest Rocket
About 330 pounds are carried by each OneWeb satellite (150 kilograms). This was the 14th deployment of a OneWeb satellite and used India's largest rocket, typically used for government satellites. The first OneWeb launch took place in 2019, while all before launches used Russian rockets.
The deployment is significant for India and illustrates the country's progressive opportunity to open its space agency to private clients, according to Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan, director of the CSST or the Center for Security Strategy and Technology in New Delhi as well as an expert in space and security.
As per Rajagopalan, India is skilled at attempting to launch smaller space missions and is currently vying for market share by positioning it as a satellite launch site. India may have a chance, given that many nations avoid Russian launch services while the conflict in Ukraine is still ongoing, following a report from VOA News.
Each OneWeb satellite weighs about 330 pounds (150 kilograms). It was the 14th launch of OneWeb satellites and relied on India's heaviest rocket, normally reserved for government spacecraft. All previous OneWeb flights were on Russian rockets; the first was in 2019.
OneWebb's Communication Satellites
Beta clients who live north of latitude 50 can already get high-speed internet connections from OneWeb. The equator will be covered closer by this most recent launch and another one that will take place before the year ends.
OneWeb CEO Neil Masterson claimed that they need to get such launches out of the way before Christmas, and that will enable clients to turn on the service from 25 degrees North and 25 degrees South. Alongside his team, they targeted to complete the roll-out of the constellation by spring, which will enable them to complete global commercial service by the end of next year, following a report from BBC.
The combined company between OneWeb and the company with its headquarters in Paris, Eutelsat, has been making headlines since March. Within what is known as a geostationary orbit, which is 36,000 kilometers above the earth, the French company uses telecommunications spacecraft. In the direct-to-home TV industry, it is one of the leading providers. Meanwhile, the merging plan is undergoing the procedure for competitive and regulatory authorization.
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