OneWeb production could stay in Florida
March 2, 2022
By Chris Forrester
When the UK made its $500 million investment in the – then bankrupt – OneWeb satellite constellation, much was made of the prospects for production of the actual satellites, with UK officials talking optimistically about satellites being built in the UK.
Alok Sharma, then business secretary in the UK government, spoke at the time of the prospects for OneWeb boosting the UK’s existing satellite production and output.
OneWeb itself also confirmed at the time a wish to see satellites being built in the UK. Chris McLaughlin, OneWeb’s head of government affairs, said he could see output being transferred by 2024 or 2025.
But Bharti Enterprises, and its chairman Sunil Mittal, which owns 40 per cent of OneWeb, says that it is happy to “nudge” whoever wins the contract for OneWeb’s second-generation satellites towards the UK but “there’s a lot of things that’ll depend on it. He added that pricing would be key, reports the FT.
OneWeb’s satellites are currently being built in Florida, where Airbus and OneWeb have a production joint-venture.