All 34 OneWeb communications satellites, launched atop a Soyuz-ST carrier rocket on Tuesday evening, have been put into the designated orbit, Russian state-run space corporation Roscosmos said in a statement released on Wednesday, Trend reports citing TASS.
"All 34 OneWeb communications satellites successfully separated from the Fregat booster and reached their designated orbits," the statement says.
It was the 100th mission for Russia’s Fregat booster. After completing its mission, the booster will be de-orbited and sunk in non-navigational area of the Pacific Ocean.
The Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket was launched from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan at 21:07 Moscow time on Tuesday. The launch is to bring the number of British satellites to 322.
The first six OneWeb satellites were orbited by a Soyuz-ST carrier rocket from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana on February 28, 2019. Another 34 satellites were delivered into outer space on February 7, 2020 and the same amount on March 21 from the Baikonur space center.
OneWeb satellites were launched from the Vostochny spaceport in Russia’s Far East for the first time in December 2020. A total of 36 space vehicles were put into orbit. Further launches took place from the Vostochny space center on March 25, April 26, May 28, and July 1, 2021, and from Baikonur on August 22, 2021. The next launch is scheduled for October 14 from Vostochny.
OneWeb’s renewed agreement with the French Arianespace that acts as the launch operator stipulates the lift-off of 16 Russian Soyuz carrier rockets from the Kourou, Vostochny and Baikonur launch facilities in 2020-2022. Each launch can put between 34-36 OneWeb satellites into orbit.