Advanced Television

OneWeb

OneWeb satellite production restarts

OneWeb, now out of bankruptcy (the formal documents are to be signed on November 30th and the final Court hearing is scheduled for December 3rd), has officially restarted its dual satellite production lines at its joint-venture factory in Florida. OneWeb now has backing from a consortium including the UK government and Bharti Global. “Due to […]

November 24, 2020By Chris Forrester

OneWeb to build Version 2 craft for positioning

OneWeb, which exited its Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring last week, says the company is planning for a Generation 2 version of its current satellite design which would incorporate global positioning. Adrian Steckel, the outgoing CEO, told Space Intel Report that a satellite fleet with positioning, navigation and timing (the key PNT elements of any GPS […]

November 23, 2020By Chris Forrester

UK-backed OneWeb exits bankruptcy

OneWeb, the LEO system now backed by UK government, has cleared the challenges of Chapter 11 bankruptcy reconstruction. The company, in a statement, said: “Today, OneWeb announces its emergence from US Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and achievement of all relevant regulatory approvals. A consortium of UK Government (through the UK Secretary of State for Business, […]

November 20, 2020By Chris Forrester

OneWeb satellites arrive in Russia

OneWeb, which should be emerging from its Chapter 11 bankruptcy in early December, has shipped a batch of satellites to the Russian launch site at the Vostochny Cosmodrome, in Russia’s Far East. Vostochny, which means ‘Eastern’ in Russian, is Russia’s second spaceport and designed to take the launch pressure from its main rocket site at […]

November 5, 2020

OneWeb to exit bankruptcy soon

UK-based mega-constellation satellite operator OneWeb has received various US government approvals for it to exit its Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The approvals include the FCC which sanctioned the purchase by the UK government and Bharti Global this week. The FCC’s decision came in the form of an ‘Order’ on October 26th which gave permission for OneWeb […]

October 29, 2020

EU to seek pan-European broadband-by-satellite system?

ASD-Eurospace, Europe’s space industry trade association, issued what it called an ‘Industry Manifesto’ on October 15 which called for a “resilient satellite system for secure connectivity […] to make Europe fit for the Digital Age”. The document calls for a constellation of Low Earth orbiting (LEO) satellites, owned by the European Commission, and serving military, […]

October 19, 2020By Chris Forrester

MP criticises UK’s OneWeb purchase

A UK opposition MP has savaged the UK government’s involvement in satellite company OneWeb, currently in Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganisation. The UK is putting at least £400 million into the company (with India’s Bharti matching the investment). OneWeb is likely to emerge from bankruptcy before the end of this year. Chi Onwurah, a Labour party […]

October 16, 2020By Chris Forrester

Virgin Orbit wants more cash

Sir Richard Branson’s aircraft-based satellite launching project, Virgin Orbit, is looking to raise up to $200 million, according to a report in the WSJ. Many of Branson’s projects, not least his airline businesses, have been hit hard by the Coronavirus. The WSJ says that Virgin Orbit (which suspends a powerful rocket from beneath one of […]

October 12, 2020By Chris Forrester

Concerns over ‘flat panel’ LEO antennas

If there’s one vital component that Elon Musk and the likes of Jeff Bezos as well as Telesat, OneWeb and others need it’s a low-cost consumer friendly phased array flat-panel antenna. Yoel Gat, founder of Gilat Satellite Networks (and now CEO at SatixFy, a designer of flat-panel antennas) says that the dream of a sub-$300 […]

October 9, 2020

OneWeb severs Russian ties

OneWeb, in the process of exiting its Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring, has ended its controversial joint-venture with Russian Space Agency Roscosmos. OneWeb’s 49 per cent stake would now be transferred to a Roscosmos subsidiary company Gonets which was already the majority partner. One of the key buyers of OneWeb’s assets is the UK government which […]

October 6, 2020By Chris Forrester