Guest blog: Completing the constellation by OneWeb
Guest blog by Gareth Alston, Director UK Government Affairs, OneWeb
On 26 March, OneWeb launched 36 satellites from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in India. It was the 18th launch by the company and delivered its most significant milestone to date as OneWeb’s constellation reached the threshold for global coverage.
Getting to this stage has not been easy. The company has experienced significant challenges in recent years, including entering Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2020, restarting launches and operations during the COVID pandemic, and having to rapidly secure new launch providers outside of Russia following the invasion of Ukraine. Nevertheless, driven by the core mission to change lives at scale by ensuring connectivity for communities and business across the world, the passion, pace, and determination of the OneWeb team - along with the support of the wider space and telecommunications industries - ensured that this critical milestone was reached.
Bridging the Connectivity Divide
Currently, much of the world's population still lacks resilient connectivity – an estimated 37% of the world have never used the internet, particularly in rural and remote areas. Low Earth orbit (LEO) constellations can provide high-speed internet to these underserved populations where it not possible or viable to deploy fibre, opening-up new opportunities for education, healthcare, and economic development. The fast connection speeds and low latency of LEO satellites make them ideal for real-time communication applications, transforming connectivity in areas where terrestrial services are not available.
This includes providing broadband to remote communities, increasing the range of existing communication networks through backhaul services, disaster response, and improving the resilience of essential services. Critical government capabilities are also covered, including supporting emergency service communications, and numerous defence and security applications.
And the applications aren’t just limited to land: high-speed connectivity anywhere on the oceans will soon drive smarter shipping leading to operational efficiencies, enhanced crew well-being, and customer experience. Aviation connectivity is being transformed, with broadband-in-the-sky connectivity improving passenger experience, as well as data-driven efficiencies for flight and maintenance operations.
Securing the UK as a leader in global satellite communication
Headquartered in West London, OneWeb’s satellite constellation is the second largest in the world, reinforcing the UK’s place as a leader in global space operations. With approximately 400 staff based in the UK, the majority of which are in in STEM roles, the business is making a significant contribution to the upskilling of the UK economy.
As one of only two live LEO broadband constellations, OneWeb provides the UK with an extremely valuable sovereign technological capability crucial for delivering the aims of the National Space and Defence Space Strategies, as well as an important component for ‘Future Telecommunications’ – one of the five critical technologies identified in the UK’s recent Science and Technology Framework. This capability will be of ever-increasing geopolitical importance with respect to future defence and security requirements, as well as providing wide-ranging commercial opportunities as the demand for good quality connectivity across the globe continues to grow exponentially.
Further, by working with a range of distribution partners, including industry leaders like BT, OneWeb can help improve the resilience of the UK telecommunications infrastructure, and assist the government’s aim of improving connectivity to ‘very hard to reach areas’ across the country.
Through OneWeb, the UK is at the forefront of enabling the next generation of communication services that will bring benefits to a wide range of critical sectors and drive a new era of social and economic opportunities across the country and the world.
OneWeb is a global communications network powered from space through its constellation of more than 600 Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites, providing high-speed, low-latency connectivity services to governments, businesses, and communities. It is already providing connectivity everywhere 50 degrees north latitude, including Canada, Alaska and the UK, and service will gradually increase across the world throughout 2023, covering the entire planet by the start of 2024.
Josh Turpin
Josh Turpin
Josh joined techUK as a Programme Manager for Telecoms and Net Zero in August 2024.
In this role, working jointly across the techUK Telecoms and Climate Programmes, Josh is responsible for leading on telecoms infrastructure deployment and uptake and supporting innovation opportunities, as well as looking at how the tech sector can be further utilised in the UK’s decarbonisation efforts.
Prior to joining techUK, Josh’s background was in public affairs and communications, working for organisations across a diverse portfolio of sectors including defence, telecoms and infrastructure; aiding clients through stakeholder engagement, crisis communications, media outreach as well as secretariat duties.
Outside of work, Josh has a keen interest in music, painting and sailing.
- Email:
- [email protected]
- Phone:
- 020 7331 2038
- LinkedIn:
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-turpin/
Tales Gaspar
Tales Gaspar
Tales has a background in law and economics, with previous experience in the regulation of new technologies and infrastructure.
In the UK and Europe, he offered consultancy on intellectual property rights of cellular and IoT technologies and on the regulatory procedures at the ITU as a Global Fellow at the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI).
Tales has an LL.M in Law and Business by the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV) and an MSc in Regulation at the London School of Economics, with a specialization in Government and Law.
- Email:
- [email protected]
- Phone:
- +44 (0) 0207 331 2000
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- www.techUK.org
- LinkedIn:
- www.linkedin.com/in/talesngaspar
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