OneWeb Suspends Satellite Launches From Russia’s Baikonur Amid Ukraine Crisis

The British government, which owns a stake in OneWeb, said it supported the decision.

By Press Trust of India | Updated: 4 March 2022 15:16 IST

OneWeb Suspends Satellite Launches From Russia’s Baikonur Amid Ukraine Crisis

OneWeb will offer broadband via a constellation of 650 satellites

Highlights

The British government owns a stake in OneWeb
OneWeb was rescued from bankruptcy by Britain and Bharti Global in 2020
British government supported the decision to suspend satellite launches

British satellite company OneWeb said on Thursday it was suspending all launches from Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan after Moscow's space agency demanded guarantees that its technology would not be used for military purposes. The British government, which owns a stake in OneWeb, said it supported the decision.

"In light of Russia's illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, we are reviewing our participation in all further projects involving Russian collaboration," the government said.

A Soyuz rocket carrying 36 OneWeb satellites was lifted onto a launchpad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Wednesday, according to pictures issued by Russia's space agency Roscosmos.

ISRO Scientists Used Mangalyaan to Study Sun's Corona: Here's How

Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin said on Wednesday that his agency wanted OneWeb to provide guarantees that its satellites are not going to be used against Russia, according to an Interfax report. Without these, Rogozin said Russia would cancel Friday's planned launch from the Baikonur cosmodrome, which Russia rents from Kazakhstan, without compensating OneWeb, the Russian news agency reported.

OneWeb, which will offer broadband via a constellation of 650 satellites, was rescued from bankruptcy by Britain and Bharti Global in 2020. Eutelsat and SoftBank have also invested.

Elon Musk, the billionaire chief executive of SpaceX, has donated Starlink satellite internet terminals to Ukraine, where internet connections have been disrupted due to the Russian invasion.

Elon Musk Warns Starlink System Could Be ‘Targeted’ in Ukraine

Starlink, like OneWeb, uses small low earth orbit (LEO) satellites to provide internet access.

Gaana CEO and Spotify's India chief join us on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast, to discuss India's unique music streaming landscape. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.