On Thursday, December 8, at 5:27 p.m. EST (2227 GMT) SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched 40 satellites from Kennedy Space Center in Florida to the low-Earth orbit for its megaconstellation competitor OneWeb, Space.com reported.
Aside from its OneWeb's first time to deploy more than 36 satellites in a single launch mission, the launch was also in support of them after its plans were derailed by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Russia's government refused to continue launching spacecraft for the British operator.
Political Conflict Delayed OneWeb's Launch
The London-based competitor of SpaceX is one of several operators launching large fleets of internet satellites to low-Earth orbit. To date, SpaceX has launched more than 3,500 Starlink internet satellites via its Falcon 9 rocket, while OneWeb has launched 464 satellites launched on 13 Russian Soyuz rockets purchase through launch services provider Arianespace, and one Indian GLCV Mk 3 rocket.
However, Spaceflight Now reported that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has affected OneWeb's satellite deployment schedule this year. OneWeb and Arianespace were supposed to have six more launches from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, which includes its 14th launch in March.
But Roscosmos set conditions for the mission after rolling the rocket and OneWeb satellites to a launch pad. Part of the conditions is the demand that the UK government give up its stake in OneWeb.
As expected, the UK government declined and the company announced that it will be suspending its launches from Baikonur. OneWeb reported a loss of $229.2 million on its financial statements due to the termination of the planned Soyuz launch that month.
The loss includes the postponement of other launches via Soyuz rocket and the loss of 36 satellites stranded in Kazakhstan as it has not been returned to OneWeb by Russia.
SpaceX to the Rescue
Less than a month after the suspended Soyuz launches, OneWeb announced an agreement with its competitor SpaceX to launch some of its remaining satellites. Unfortunately, all those canceled delays had slowed the company down with its target, which is why they are excited about the December launch.
According to Space.com, a Falcon 9 rocket carried 40 OneWeb satellites into orbit in a dazzling sunset liftoff. Cameras on the ground captured the stunning views of the rocket separating in its first stage and returning to Earth on a SpaceX pad at the nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
A SpaceX mission description said that it marks Falcon 9's 145th successful rocket recovery and fourth launch and landing using the same booster. It was used in December 2021 to launch a SpaceX Dragon cargo mission to the International Space Station (ISS), then again in October this year for Eutelsat's Hotbird 13F spacecraft, and one batch of SpaceX's Starlink satellites.
Falcon 9's upper stage continued to carry OneWeb satellites to orbit, OneWeb announced via Twitter. The British company is building a 648-satellite broadband constellation in low Earth orbit that will compete with SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet.
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