Hot on the heels of the news that OneWeb has struck a deal with Boeing to launch another constellation of almost 3000 satellites, and in addition to the launch of an already planned 640 satellites in its existing mega-constellation, comes news that Japan’s SoftBank is to invest an extra $500 million in OneWeb.

OneWeb is planning to circle the planet with a mega-constellation of about 640 satellites, and to start services as soon as 2019, and working in the Ku-band about 1200 kms above the Earth.  Japan’s SoftBank is a major investor in OneWeb, along with Qualcomm, Virgin Group, Intelsat, Coca-Cola and others.  Airbus is already building the fleet’s initial ‘test’ satellites.

Japanese media conglomerate SoftBank has already invested $1 billion in OneWeb, and has agreed to place a further $500 million into the satellite business. OneWeb reportedly says that SoftBank’s overall stake will remain at less than 50 per cent.

OneWeb founder says he is planning for a more powerful fleet of satellites than originally planned.

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