The Soyuz-2.1b launch vehicle with the Fregat upper stage and 36 OneWeb communications satellites was rolled out from the Assembly and Test Facility on Monday. The launch vehicle was installed on the launch pad of the Vostochny Сosmodrome, the launch is scheduled for Thursday, October 14.
Pre-launch works are carried out under the contracts of Glavkosmos (a subsidiary of Roscosmos) with the European launch services provider Arianespace (the company operates launches of OneWeb spacecraft with the use of the Soyuz launch vehicle), and the company Starsem.
The joint team consisting of the foreign customers and the representatives of Roscosmos enterprises Progress Space Rocket Center, Lavochkin Association, TsENKI and Glavkosmos, is carrying out these works.
Today the fleet of the OneWeb satellites in the low Earth orbit amounts to 322 spacecraft, the company plans to launch hundreds more. The upcoming launch should bring the number of OneWeb spacecraft in orbit to 358.
OneWeb low Earth orbit satellites are designed to provide consumers on the ground with high-speed Internet.
