34 OneWeb satellites arrived at Baikonur
BAIKONUR, August 25. - A new batch of 34 OneWeb satellites was delivered to Krainiy airport by an An-124-100 aircraft on Wednesday. The specialists of the Space Center Yuzhny (a branch of TsENKI, part of Roscosmos) transported the satellites to the cosmodrome, where the joint technical team started preparing the satellites for the upcoming launch on board the Soyuz-2.1 b launch vehicle with the Fregat upper stage. The launch, operated by Arianespace, is scheduled for September 14, 2021.
These activities are carried out under the contracts of Glavkosmos (a subsidiary of Roscosmos) with the European launch services provider Arianespace (the company operates launches of OneWeb spacecraft with the use of the Soyuz launch vehicle), and the company Starsem.
The joint technical team consists of the specialists of Progress Space Rocket Center, Lavochkin Association, TsENKI and Glavkosmos (enterprises of Roscosmos) and those of the foreign customers.
To date, the fleet of OneWeb satellites in the low Earth orbit consists of 288 spacecraft, and hundreds more are to be launched. The upcoming launch should bring the number of OneWeb spacecraft in orbit to 322.
OneWeb low Earth orbit satellites are designed to provide consumers on the ground with high-speed Internet.
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Glavkosmos, JSC is a subsidiary of the State Space Corporation Roscosmos. The main task of the company is to promote the achievements of the Russian rocket and space industry to world markets and to manage complex international projects. During its more than thirty-five year history, the company has successfully fulfilled over 140 international contracts, including the launch of more than 170 spacecraft as a secondary payload.
ROSCOSMOS is a State Corporation established in August 2015 to carry out a comprehensive reform of the Russian rocket and space industry. ROSCOSMOS ensures the implementation of the state policy in space activities and its normative and legal regulations, as well as places orders for the design, production and supply of space equipment and space infrastructure. Its functions also include the development of international space cooperation, as well as the establishing of environment for application of space domain achievements for the social and economic development in Russia.