A new batch of 36 OneWeb spacecraft has been delivered to the Baikonur Cosmodrome as part of Mission 38. The spacecraft arrived at the Krayniy airport by an An-124 aircraft. Their launch, using Soyuz-2.1b launch vehicle and Fregat upper stage, is scheduled for March 4, 2022 at 22:41 UTC.
Specialists of the Yuzhny Space Center (a branch of the Center for Operation of Ground-Based Space Infrastructure Facilities, part of Roscosmos) unloaded the spacecraft and transported them to Site 112 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The next stage of technological activities is the preparation of the spacecraft at the technical complex.
OneWeb low-orbit spacecraft are designed to provide high-speed Internet access to ground consumers. Currently, there are already 428 OneWeb communications satellites in orbit. The next OneWeb missions in 2022, which will also use Russia’s Soyuz-2 launch vehicle, will allow OneWeb to begin providing services worldwide as early as this year.
Internet access through the OneWeb satellite system will be provided through 40 OneWeb ground terminals that will be deployed on the Earth’s surface. The terminals will be autonomous, self-powered and well protected from environmental hazards.