Soyuz rocket launches 36 OneWeb internet satellites into orbit

An Arianespace Soyuz rocket launched dozens of new internet satellites into orbit Monday (Dec. 27) to boost a growing megaconstellation by service provider OneWeb.

The Russian-built Soyuz rocket launched 36 OneWeb satellites from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 8:10 a.m. EST (1310 GMT). The flight comes just two days after an Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket launched NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope into space on Christmas from Kourou, French Guiana and just ahead of the New Year, closing out Arianespace’s launch manifest for 2021.

Monday’s launch marked the eighth launch of the year for OneWeb, which now has 394 of its internet satellites in orbit. If all goes well, the 36 new satellites will be deployed in an initial orbit 280 miles (450 kilometers) above Earth about 3 hours, 45 minutes after liftoff. They’ll then head off to a final orbit more than 621miles (1,000 km) above Earth.

The London-based OneWeb is building a constellation of 648 satellites to provide high-speed internet access to customers around the world, especially remote and under-connected locations. This year, the company reached the 60% mark of their constellation in space and signed a series of distribution agreements with partners in Australia, Canada and Europe for their service network.

“The demand for connectivity is not just at an emotional level, it is almost visceral,” OneWeb CEO Neil Masterson told Via Satellite in an interview this month. “We think we have this incredible opportunity to level up this digital divide and help close it.”

OneWeb is not the only company vying for the satellite internet customers. 

SpaceX is building a megaconstellation of its own called Starlink and has launched 1,944 satellites since 2019. That constellation is expected to number at least 4,400 satellites in its initial configuration. Amazon is also developing its own internet satellite constellation called Kuiper, but has yet to launch any satellites.

Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him @tariqjmalik. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Instagram. 

Tariq is the Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001, first as an intern and staff writer, and later as an editor. He covers human spaceflight, exploration and space science, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com’s Managing Editor in 2009 and Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. He is also an Eagle Scout (yes, he has the Space Exploration merit badge) and went to Space Camp four times as a kid and a fifth time as an adult. He has journalism degrees from the University of Southern California and New York University. To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter.