“LIFTOFF!”: RUSSIAN SOYUZ ROCKET LAUNCHES 36 NEW UK SATELLITES

Thu 14 October 2021:

On Thursday, a Russian Soyuz rocket launched 36 additional satellites for British operator OneWeb, which promises to give broadband internet to everyone on the planet.

The rocket, managed by Europe’s Arianespace, launched at 0940 GMT from Russia’s Far East’s Vostochny cosmodrome, which was live-streamed by the country’s Roscosmos space agency.

“LIFTOFF!” After the launch, Roscosmos tweeted that it was the seventh this year to carry OneWeb satellites.

Take a look at some pictures from today’s launch🚀 of the #Soyuz-2.1b with the #Fregat upper stage and 36 @OneWeb satellites🛰️ from the #Vostochny_Cosmodrome: pic.twitter.com/iLwGWJX323

— GLAVKOSMOS (@glavkosmosJSC) October 14, 2021

OneWeb, based in London, is attempting to finish the construction of a constellation of low-earth-orbit satellites that will provide increased internet and other services to countries all over the world.

Along with tech tycoon Elon Musk and fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos of Amazon, the company is competing in a race to provide fast internet for the world’s remote locations via satellites.

The UK firm expects its global commercial internet service, which will be supported by 650 satellites, to be operating by next year.

Between December 2020 and the end of 2022, Arianespace, which has worked with Russia for nearly two decades, has a contract to launch 16 Soyuz rockets.

With this newest mission, the constellation currently has 358 satellites in orbit, according to Roscosmos.

(with agency)

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