JoeySat added to OneWeb fleet
May 22, 2023
By Chris Forrester
A super-sophisticated second-generation satellite, dubbed ‘JoeySat’, has been added to the OneWeb constellation of broadband satellites. The new craft was launched along with 15 other conventional back-up satellites on May 20th and completes the initial plan for the fleet.
JoeySat is an advanced ‘beam-hopping’ craft developed with £52 million of funding from the UK Space Agency awarded to UK satellite technology firms through the European Space Agency’s Sunrise Programme.
JoeySat’s advanced technology will be able to switch the satellite capacity between different places on Earth up to 1,000 times per second, enabling it to provide services from managing real time surges in commercial demand, to providing broadband on planes and responding to emergencies and natural disasters.
Neil Masterson, CEO at OneWeb, commented: “We are excited to see the successful completion of our 19th launch, which would not have been possible without our committed team and our enormously skilled launch partners. We have made tremendous progress in scaling our services, and today’s launch is a testament to our commitment to continue improving our service to our customers. Never ones to rest on our laurels, we also view this launch as proof positive of our drive to innovate, as we test new technologies that will usher in the future of our connectivity capabilities and services. We now look ahead to scaling our services as well as making important advancements in the future of connectivity.”
UK Space Agency CEO, Dr Paul Bate, said: OneWeb’s JoeySat will be a game-changer for satellite communications, offering the chance to improve people’s lives through reliable connectivity, whether that means better broadband services in remote places or the ability to respond more effectively to emergency situations. As part of our priority to deliver missions and capabilities to our flourishing space sector, the UK Space Agency has invested more than £50 million into the mission, funding both the innovative technology behind JoeySat’s creation and the development of a wider ecosystem that will ensure a reliable and sustainable end-to-end service.”
Massimiliano Ladovaz, CTO at OneWeb, added: The JoeySat reflects the spirit of innovation and collaboration in space and promises to enable OneWeb to continue enhancing the performance and capabilities of our high-speed, low-latency satellite network to areas in need. The innovation behind the JoeySat would not be possible without ESA and the UK Space Agency, and we thank them for their invaluable partnership.”
With 634 satellites now in-orbit, OneWeb is on track to deliver global coverage this year and is already in the process of scaling services for customers around the world. With the addition of the satellites deployed from this launch, OneWeb will increase the resiliency and redundancy in the constellation as it expands services to its growing base of enterprise and government customers.