OneWeb’s Launch #6 Marks Advancement In 'Fibre-Like’ Sea Connectivity

The Low Earth Orbit (LEO) broadband satellite communications pioneer OneWeb confirms the successful launch of an additional 36 satellites into orbit, moving another step closer towards its ‘Five to 50’ mission in delivering low latency, ‘fibre-like’ connectivity to the maritime and offshore industries.

OneWeb is on schedule to launch its full global service by 2023 with 182 satellites now in orbit. These form part of OneWeb’s 648 LEO satellite fleet that will deliver high-speed, low-latency connectivity to the global maritime industry amongst other sectors. Today’s announcement represents 60 percent of the constellation required to enable OneWeb’s connectivity solution to reach all regions north of 50 degrees latitude by June 2021.  

This is the third in a five-launch ‘Five to 50’ programme, giving OneWeb the ability to connect businesses, governments and communities in the northern hemisphere. These services will cover the United Kingdom, Alaska, Northern Europe, Greenland, Iceland, the Artic Seas and Canada, and will be switched on before the end of the year. 

Commenting on the announcement, Carole Plessy, head of maritime product development at OneWeb, said: “We’re thrilled to have successfully deployed another batch of OneWeb’s LEO satellites as we continue to rapidly build momentum towards delivering high-speed, low-latency services to the entire maritime industry. This paves the way for the global deployment of services for an eagerly awaiting Maritime market in 2022.

“Reliable connectivity is at the heart of enabling martime’s digital revolution across all sectors. We believe affordable, accessible fibre-like connectivity should be as available at sea as it is on land. By using better connectivity to unlock the greater use of data, we will enable shipping fleets, floating communities, and offshore operations to become more efficient, sustainable, and profitable.”

Neil Masterson, OneWeb CEO concluded: “These are exciting times at OneWeb as we get ever closer to bringing our connectivity services to some of the world’s hardest to reach places. With this third successful launch in our ‘5 to 50’ programme, we are rapidly building momentum: we are launching more satellites, demonstrating the network and announcing more distribution singings around the globe. We have a world class team and product, and alongside our supportive shareholders, OneWeb continues to work towards bringing connectivity to everyone, everywhere.”