After running out of rockets on March 5 to power a new set of satellites in space, the British telecommunications company OneWeb saw in SpaceX the solution to all your problems. Although the two companies are often seen as competitors, the two have shown great partnership amidst all the chaos generated by Ukraine’s war for space race. And it is that Elon Musk’s company will make its rockets available to OneWeb after the latter saw its mission canceled for refusing to meet the strict requirements of the Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos).
Elon Musk has already shown himself on several occasions ready to do everything on his side to help companies that are affected by the decisions of Roscosmos. For example, after the Russian agency refused to continue supplying rockets to NASA, SpaceX agreed to lend its rockets for the upcoming releases.
However, this collaboration did not surprise anyone. At the end, NASA and SpaceX they had worked together before. What is particularly curious is that he decides to help another company with a project similar to Elon Musk’s Starlink. However, in the statements to The edgeresponsible for the governance, regulation and engagement of OneWeb, Chris McLaughlin, explained that in reality, their missions are very different. Both are focused on sending a large fleet of satellites into space to provide coverage across the planet. However, SpaceX focuses on individual customers and OneWeb on governments. Each has their plot, but to achieve it now, they will have to work together.
Disrupting OneWeb’s plans
The last OneWeb satellite shipment was scheduled for March 5, 2022, in full ukrainian war. However, a few days before, when everything was ready in the Baikonur Spaceportin Kazakhstan, the director of Roscosmos, Dimitri Rogozin, outlined a series of mandatory conditions for carrying out the expedition in their Soyuz rockets.
On the one hand, Oneweb should make a commitment to its customers not to use satellites with end of war against Russia. On the other hand, the UK should withdraw all your shares to the telecommunications company. Considering that the UK government is one of its main investors, meeting these requirements would have put OneWeb out of business. None of them agreed to Russia’s terms, so
Roscosmos has yet to return to OneWeb the 36 satellites that should have been launched on March 5
Roscosmos has removed its Soyuz rockets from the launch pad. In fact, soon after Rogozin announced that they would use these rockets to advance Russia’s private space race.
The ship loaded with 36 satellites was already ready in Kazakhstan and these have not yet been returned to OneWeb. However, this is not the main concern of the company. According to McLaughlin, they are able to manufacture two satellites per day, so it wouldn’t be a big deal. The main challenge was to find appropriate shuttles to put them in space. And if there is anyone who has the experience of launching rockets without depending on Russia, it is undoubtedly Elon Musk. For this reason, they were quick to contact SpaceX, where they did not hesitate to accept the agreement.
SpaceX and Elon Musk to the rescue
SpaceX has reusable rockets, so although they are in constant development, they do not need to manufacture a large quantity. This not only allows them to supply their own consumption, but also gives them the opportunity to collaborate with public bodies and private companies around the world.
Elon Musk showed all its determination to collaborate with its national and international partners after the rupture of the agreements with Russia born of the war in Ukraine. In fact, the American businessman has his own open dialectical war with Rogozin and Vladimir Putin on social networks.
OneWeb is in a test phase prior to Starlink
That’s why SpaceX accepted the deal with OneWeb. The exact date of the new shipment is not known. And neither if it will be in a Falcon Heavy or a Falcon 9. There are still many details to know. However, we know that thanks to this collaboration, OneWeb will soon have 464 of the 648 satellites that he plans to place in the sky. Elon Musk’s company plans to launch instead over 40,000. OneWeb is in the testing phase and Starlink already has a few operational satellites. There are certainly big differences from company to company. Perhaps that’s what encouraged SpaceX to collaborate. Either way, his British colleagues or rivals were helpful.
