PR87346

LONDON, Dec. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/--

- OneWeb confirms successful launch and contact with all 36 satellites

- The latest deployment brings the in-orbit constellation to 110 satellites

- OneWeb on track to launch regional commercial service in 2021 and global service in 2022

OneWeb, the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite communications company, has

confirmed the successful launch of all 36 satellites from a Soyuz launch

vehicle, which began flight from the Vostochny Cosmodrome. This brings the

total in-orbit constellation to 110 satellites, part of OneWeb's 648 LEO

satellite fleet that will deliver high-speed, low-latency global connectivity.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1087486/OneWeb_Logo.jpg

Lift-off occurred on 18 December at 12:26 GMT. OneWeb's satellites separated

from the rocket and were dispensed in nine batches over a period of 3 hours 52

minutes with signal acquisition on all 36 satellites confirmed.

Less than a month since its acquisition by the UK Government and Bharti Global,

OneWeb is quickly returning to full operations - hiring at a fast pace,

restarting launches, continuing to build its ground station network, and

pushing forward on user terminal development.

The success of this launch will put OneWeb on track to offer global services to

customers starting with the United Kingdom, Alaska, Northern Europe, Greenland,

Iceland, the Artic Seas, and Canada in 2021 with global service following in 2022.

Neil Masterson, OneWeb CEO commented: "It's inspiring to be part of a

fast-returning organisation refocused on our mission of bringing connectivity

to everyone, everywhere. Each launch moves us closer to our goal of building

this much needed global, secure, trusted, enterprise-grade broadband network,

powered from space. We look forward to offering our commercial services to

global users."

UK Business Secretary Alok Sharma said: "With OneWeb's latest satellites taking

to the skies we come one step closer to connecting people across the globe with

fast, UK-backed broadband and just months after British government investment

made this possible.

The UK can be proud of being at the heart of the latest long-term advances in space technology."

"Today's launch is one of many steps we have taken to operationalise one of the

world's first LEO constellations which clearly demonstrates we are on our way

to achieving our mission. Overall, there is an overwhelming demand for

broadband and the pandemic has taxed infrastructure everywhere and many people

worldwide are left with little to no options to access the internet. OneWeb's

system will help meet existing and future demand by delivering broadband

connectivity to communities, towns, and regions left unconnected or under-connected."

said Sunil Bharti Mittal, Founder and Chairman of Bharti Enterprises.

Follow #OneWebLaunch on OneWeb social media channels:

YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzs-1EA5e6MRHXK8NKyqzcw ),

Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/onewebofficial/ ),

Twitter (https://twitter.com/OneWeb?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor),

Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/onewebofficial/ ).

Webcast playback

Launch highlights available:

View on OneWeb YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLjQ8KGbssI )

Launch Imagery

https://www.oneweb.world/launch4-mediakit

Launch Partner

Arianespace and Glavkosmos

Launch Facility

Soyuz Launch Complex, Vostochny Cosmodrome

About OneWeb

OneWeb is a global communications network powered from space, headquartered in

London, enabling connectivity for governments, businesses, and communities. It

is implementing a constellation of Low Earth Orbit satellites with a network of

global gateway stations and a range of user terminals to provide an affordable,

fast, high-bandwidth and low-latency communications service, connected to the

IoT future and a pathway to 5G for everyone, everywhere. Find out more at:

http://www.oneweb.world

SOURCE:  OneWeb