Edinburgh, 14 February 2022. – Flight VS27, deploying 34 OneWeb satellites, was Arianespace’s first mission of the year and the 340th for the Arianespace family comprising Ariane, Soyuz and Vega. The number of satellites in orbit in the OneWeb constellation is now 428.
Soyuz, the medium-lift, four-stage launch vehicle carrying the spacecraft, was produced by Roscosmos’ Progress Space Rocket Center. The satellites were released from the rocket’s upper stage into a near-polar orbit just below 500 km high. They then started raising themselves to their operational altitude of 1,200 km.
The constellation will deliver high-speed connectivity to aviation, maritime, governments, emergency response services and other customers. OneWeb aims to bring connectivity to everywhere where fibre cannot reach to bridge the digital divide, the company said.
Arianespace is planning to deploy more of OneWeb’s satellite network into low Earth orbit this year. The constellation will consist of 648 satellites altogether.
