OneWeb British satellite business holds Baikonur launches
OneWeb British satellite business – After Moscow’s space agency wanted guarantees that its spacecraft would not be used for military purposes, British satellite business OneWeb announced on Thursday that it was suspending all launches from Russia’s Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
The decision was backed by the British government, which holds an interest in OneWeb.”In light of Russia’s unlawful and illegitimate invasion of Ukraine, we are examining our involvement in all future efforts requiring Russian collaboration,” the government stated.
A Soyuz rocket carrying 36 OneWeb satellites was scheduled to launch from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome. Roscosmos, Russia’s space agency, wanted assurances that the spacecraft will not be used for military purposes.
In 2020, Britain and Bharti Global saved OneWeb from bankruptcy, which will provide broadband via a constellation of 650 satellites. SoftBank and Eutelsat have also invested.
