On February 10, 2022, the Soyuz-ST-B launch vehicle was launched from the launch complex of the Guiana Space Center (French Guiana, South America). After 3.5 hours, the Fregat-M upper stage successfully launched another batch of 34 OneWeb satellites into low-Earth orbit, the Roscosmos press service reports.
For OneWeb, this was the thirteenth launch using Russian Soyuz-2 launch vehicles and the second from the Guiana Space Center. Five launches were carried out from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, another six from the newest Russian Vostochny Cosmodrome. Currently, there are already 428 OneWeb communication satellites in low-Earth orbit. Further OneWeb missions throughout 2022, which will also use the Russian Soyuz 2 launch vehicle, will allow OneWeb to begin providing services worldwide this year.
OneWeb spacecraft are designed to create a space communications system that provides high-speed Internet access anywhere on Earth. Internet access via the OneWeb satellite system will be provided through 40 ground-based terminal stations that will be deployed on the surface of the Earth. OneWeb terminals will be autonomous, capable of independently supplying themselves with energy and well protected from the influence of adverse environmental factors. Each of the terminals will be able to provide high-speed Internet access in its coverage area via Wi-Fi, LTE or 5G technologies.
A licensed radio frequency range will be used or, where possible, a Wi-Fi, LTE or 5G radio frequency range open to the public.
Earlier, on December 5, 2021, the European Space Agency’s Galileo satellites entered orbit after launching from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana, said Arianespace CEO Stephane Israel. “The undocking of the two Galileo satellites has been confirmed and our passengers have been delivered to their intended orbit,” Israel wrote on Twitter. They were delivered there by the Russian Soyuz ST-B launch vehicle.
At the end of October 2021, it was decided that Russia would transfer some of the federal launches to the Kourou cosmodrome in French Guiana, as stated by Roscosmos CEO Dmitry Rogozin. “We will most likely load this launch complex, including with our federal launches. We have interest. This is a unique point on the equator, convenient for launching payloads,” he said at a briefing at the Rossiya Segodnya news agency. According to him, to achieve profitability of Soyuz rockets from Kourou, two or three launches per year are needed.