One Web satellites to be launched from Baikonur on March 21

BAIKONUR. KAZINFORM - Preparations for the launch of a new batch of communications satellites of the British company OneWeb are nearing completion, Kazinform correspondent reports.

On March 18, 2020, the Soyuz-2.1b launch vehicle with Frigate booster and OneWeb satellites was installed on the launch pad of platform No. 31 of the Baikonur Spaceport. Specialists have begun prelaunch preparations, the press service of Roscosmos reported.

Launching of the Soyuz-2.1b carrier vehicle with Frigate booster and 34 OneWeb satellites is scheduled for March 21, 2020.

As we reported, the satellites were delivered to Baikonur at the end of February 2020. OneWeb low-orbit spacecraft are designed to provide terrestrial consumers with high-speed Internet directly via satellite. The orbital constellation will consist of 18 planes with 36 satellites in each. In total, the company intends to deploy about 600 satellites in low Earth orbit and begin their commercial use in 2020.

It bears to remind that the first six OneWeb satellites were launched from the Guiana Space Center using the Soyuz-ST-B carrier vehicle on February 28, 2019. The second batch of 34 satellites was launched on February 7, 2020 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.