Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket with 34 OneWeb satellites launched from Baikonur

MOSCOW. KAZINFORM The Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket with the Fregat-M booster and 34 OneWeb satellites has been launched from the 31st platform on the Baikonur spaceport, according to the live broadcast on the website of Russia's Roscosmos space corporation.

The Fregat-M booster and satellites will separate in about nine minutes. It will take 3.5 hours to deliver the satellites to the orbit. This is the first launch of OneWeb satellites from the Baikonur spaceport, TASS reports.

OneWeb satellites were initially planned to be launched from Baikonur in December 2019, but the launch was postponed because the manufacturer needed more time to test the satellites.

Before that, the satellites manufactured by the British company were only launched from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana by the Soyuz-ST carrier rocket on 28 February 2019. Six satellited were delivered to the orbit then. In total, OneWeb plans to deploy around 600 satellites on the Earth's orbit.