OneWeb, which once used Roskosmos' services to launch its telecommunications internet satellites into low Earth orbit, has decided not to return a batch of several dozen vehicles left at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Neil Masterson, the CEO of OneWeb, spoke at the Satellite 2023 conference last week. According to DataCenterDynamics, future attempts to return 36 satellites would be handled by the British authorities. Masterson himself said he does not anticipate to receive them in the near future.
OneWeb's access to Soyuz rocket flights was restricted by the Ukrainian authorities, who demanded that the British government refuse to participate in the project, and turn to SpaceX for help. The British company is able to replace a batch of satellites daily, and it is able to launch 36 satellites without any interruption.
SpaceX suffered a $229.2 million loss as a result of delaying launches in September, noting that $50 million worth of satellites have yet to be returned. If SpaceX would have launched the last batch of satellites into orbit at the end of March, the Indian aerospace organization ISRO would send the company into space.
Roskosmos and Arianespace are looking for alternatives to oneWeb satellites for many components of Russian rockets left at the Kourou cosmodrome in French Guiana, which the Russian side cannot receive for a number of reasons, including because they are against those involved in space flights.
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