What:
OneWeb, the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite communications company, will launch 36 satellites on Thursday, 1 July 2021, marking the completion of its ‘Five to 50’ ambition enabling connectivity services for the first time to the 50th parallel and above by the year end.
Service demonstrations will begin this summer in several key locations – including Alaska and Canada – as OneWeb prepares for full commercial service in these regions in the next six months. Offering enterprise grade connectivity services, the company has already announced distribution partnerships across several industries including with ROCK Networks, AST Group, PDI, Alaska Communications and others, as OneWeb expands its global capabilities. The company continues to engage with telecommunications providers, ISPs, governments and more worldwide to offer its low latency, high speed connectivity services and sees growing demand for new connectivity services to connect the hardest to reach places.
Why:
This launch adds another 36 satellites to OneWeb’s 648 LEO satellite fleet that will deliver global connectivity and represents 100 percent of the satellites required to enable its solution to reach all regions north of 50 degrees latitude.
This launch will enable OneWeb to offer full connectivity services across the United Kingdom, Alaska, Northern Europe, Greenland, Iceland, continental U.S., the Arctic Seas and Canada. Commercial service is expected to be rolled out before the end of the year, and OneWeb intends to make global service available in 2022.
To mark the fifth and final launch of ‘Five to 50’, with all satellites delivered on time, a welcome message “Hello North Pole” is branded on the rocket, reflecting the significant progress OneWeb has made to secure its Arctic coverage. Please follow this link for an image of the rocket.
When:
The launch is scheduled to take place on 1 July 2021 at 13:48 BST / 8:48 AM ET / 4:48 AM Alaska / 12:48:33 UTC / 9:48 Vostochny.
Where:
The launch will take place from the Vostochny Cosmodrome and will be conducted by Arianespace.
How to watch:
Livestream available on the following channels with programming beginning at 13:30 BST/8:30 ET/ 12:30 UTC.
