OneWeb Russia launch stays on schedule
February 23, 2022
By Chris Forrester
Despite the threat of further trade sanctions against Russia, OneWeb is expecting to see 36 of its satellites launched on March 4th from Russia’s Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
The launch is contracted to Arianespace but uses a Russian-built Soyuz 2.1b rocket which is handled by Russia’s Federal Space Agency Roscosmos.
The launch, number 14 for OneWeb, will see the satellites placed into low Earth orbit at an initial height of 450 kms prior to being raised to their target orbits of 1200 kms.
The launch will also be the 64th Soyuz mission handled by Arianespace.
The extra 36 craft will take the total OneWeb fleet launched to 454 out of a planned total of 648 satellites. 600 are needed for a full constellation with 48 as ground spares.