OneWeb #1

Launch Success

Liftoff Time (GMT)

21:37:00

Wednesday February 27, 2019

Watch Replay

Official Livestream

Mission Details

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Launch Notes

Flight VS21.

OneWeb Flight #1

Wiki

The 1st 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.

Polar Orbit

6 Payloads

886 kilograms

Rocket

Active
Soyuz ST-B/Fregat-M

Active Since 2018

RKK Energiya logo

Manufacturer

RKK Energiya

Price

$30.00 million

Rocket

Height: 46.94m

Payload to Orbit

LEO: 9,000 kg

GTO: 3,100 kg

Liftoff Thrust

4,317 Kilonewtons

Fairing

Diameter: 4.11m

Height: 11.43m

Stages

4

Strap-ons

4

Launch Site

ELS

Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana, France

Fastest Turnaround

27 days 15 hours

Stats

Soyuz 2.1b


44th

Mission

2nd

Mission of 2019

RKK Energiya


268th

Mission

2nd

Mission of 2019

2019


12th

Orbital launch attempt