NEXT SPACEFLIGHT

Status

Success

OneWeb #12

Launch Time
Mon Dec 27, 2021 13:10 UTC

Flight ST-37.

Rocket

Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat
Starsem
Status: Active
Price: $25.0 million
Liftoff Thrust: 4,550 kN
Payload to LEO: 7,500 kg
Payload to GTO: 3,000 kg
Stages: 4
Strap-ons: 4
Rocket Height: 46.94 m
Fairing Diameter: 4.11 m
Fairing Height: 11.43 m

Mission Details

OneWeb Flight #12

The 12th flight dedicated to the OneWeb high-speed Internet constellation. The initial constellation consists of 648 satellites, launched by 20 Soyuz from 3 different countries (France, Kazakhstan and Russia). Later, the constellation could be expanded to more than 900 satellites depending on demand. OneWeb is expected to begin customer demonstrations in 2022, then provide a global, 24-hour service in 2022/2023.

Each satellite in the constellation weighs 147.7 kg. They are powered by Russian ion engines, manufactured by OKB-Fakel, and have two solar panels for their power supply. The first generation of satellites, operating on a quasi-polar orbit (1 200 km x 86.4°), cannot perform inter-satellite communication, and can only be used near a ground relay station.

The satellites will provide user service in the Ku-band, communicating in the microwave range of frequencies in the 12-18 GHz portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.

The satellites use a technique called "progressive pitch" in which the satellites are slightly turned to avoid interference with Ku-band satellites in geostationary orbit. The user terminal antenna on the ground will be a phased array antenna measuring approximately 36 by 16 cm and will provide Internet access at 50 megabits/second downlink bandwidth (almost certainly less uplink, but this number remains hard to pin down). The satellites will be designed to comply with orbital debris-mitigation guidelines for removing satellites from orbit and, for low-orbit satellites, assuring that they reenter the Earth's atmosphere within 25 years of retirement.

Payloads: 36
Total Mass: 5,022.0 kg
Polar Orbit

Location

Site 31/6, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan

Stats

2021

140th orbital launch attempt

Soyuz 2.1b

71st mission
14th mission of 2021
68th successful mission
35th consecutive successful mission