Next OneWeb launch slips to March
January 5, 2022
By Chris Forrester
A planned January launch of 36 OneWeb broadband satellites has slipped from January to March.
Russia’s space corporation Roscosmos says it has adjusted the launch date to March 5th. The last launch was on December 27th 2021 which went as planned.
“In accordance with the 2022 launch schedule approved by the state corporation Roscosmos, the launch of a Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket with the Fregat booster and 36 OneWeb satellites from the Baikonur cosmodrome is scheduled for March 5, 2022,” Roscosmos said in a statement.
The statement added that the shift in launch date has happened as a result of its customer’s request.
While not directly affecting operations at Baikonur in Kazakhstan, the country is in the middle of significant protests and violent demonstrations over price rises for petrol and diesel fuel.
The 36 OneWeb spacecraft are now due to arrive at the Baikonur launch site on February 10th. There are a total of 7 launches planned for this year.
OneWeb’s orbital cluster now comprises 394 satellites, and some two-thirds of the planned constellation.