March 22, 2022

OneWeb has confirmed that it will partner with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to launch its satellites into orbit.

OneWeb expects its first launch with SpaceX to take place later this year. This will add to its constellation of 428 satellites already in low-Earth orbit.

“With these launch plans in place, we’re on track to finish building out our full fleet of satellites,” OneWeb Chief Executive Officer Neil Masterson said.

OneWeb had initially partnered with Russia’s Baikonur Cosmodrome to launch 36 satellites on March 4.

However, Russia’s space agency Roscosmos rejected the move after the U.K. sanctioned Russia for invading Ukraine.

Roscosmos then outlined conditions for the satellites to be launched. This includes the condition that the technology won’t be used for military purposes and the request that the British government stake in the company is sold.

OneWeb rejected those conditions and instead opt to suspend all launches from Russia’s Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

For more information, read the original story in Reuters.