UK-based company racing to build a constellation of satellites to beam internet service to people back on Earth, completed its first launch since being bought out of bankruptcy earlier this year.
Those satellites will join 74 others that OneWeb launched to space before it declared bankruptcy in March, citing trouble securing additional funding as investors tightened their belts in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Building a massive constellation of internet-beaming satellites is no easy feat: Several companies tried and failed to bring such a business model to life in the 1990s, but all of them either went under, threw in the towel or drastically altered their business plan after realizing such a plan was far more expensive than previously thought.
But a cohort of companies is trying again, and OneWeb’s stiffest competition will come from Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which has already launched roughly 1,000 satellites, brought its service to early beta testers, and is expecting to launch its commercial business next year.
The company, which says its constellation will require only 650 satellites, plans to debut its service by the end of 2021 and will focus on delivering services to businesses rather than directly to consumers.
