The UK government has bought a big part of OneWeb, a satellite internet provider that is just coming out of bankruptcy. It and Indian billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal, will control most of the company’s affairs.
However, OneWeb is still $1.25 billion short of launching a global commercial internet by 2022. Which is miles away from Elon Musk’s Starlink and Jeff Bezos’ Kuiper Systems. Sunil Bharti Mittal and the UK government will pay $500 million each and share 84.4 per cent of OneWeb. SoftBank, Airbus and several other existing creditors will own the remaining shares.
According to the company’s business secretary Alok Sharma, OneWeb will get the opportunity to build its strong advanced manufacturing and services base in the UK because of the deal. It will also create jobs and technical expertise in the process.
Additionally, OneWeb has its positioning, navigation, and timing technology aspect covered thanks to a partnership with Satellite Applications Catapult; a government-funded innovation hub.
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Satellite internet has been a technology advancement idea that targets bringing internet access to remote parts of the world. OneWeb was one of the first to start building on the idea. However, Starlink is leading in the field having launched 800 satellites in low Earth orbit.
OneWeb will be launching 36 more satellites on 17th December 2020 to add to its 74 existing ones. The company aims to have 650 satellites in orbit by 2022 to commence global coverage.
Speaking about further financing, Bharti Mittal who owns Airtel says; “I see no difficulties. In the hands of new investors, this constellation will be ready for commercial service at $2.25 billion [including the $1 billion committed by the new shareholders] and that will be the cheapest constellation compared to anyone in the world. I can confidently say this will be a rewarding investment.”
The UK government’s investment in OneWeb faced criticism in the country from senior civil servants and its Space Agency. However, the argument is that it gives the country a sovereign space capability. “Buying OneWeb secures that at a fraction of the cost of starting from scratch,” Chris McLaughlin, a special adviser on the UK-OneWeb deal explained.
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