Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

Earlier this year, Russia refused to launch and indefinitely impounded 36 satellites for British satellite start-up OneWeb, resulting in an asset impairment of $230 million, according to news on Sept. 3.

OneWeb was scheduled to launch 36 satellites into orbit at the Baikonur Space launch site in Kazakhstan in March this year. But after the conflict between Russia and Ukraine broke out, Russia issued an ultimatum to the OneWeb, rejecting the launch of its satellite before OneWeb guaranteed that its satellite would not be used for military purposes, and asked the British government to sell its stake in the company.

OneWeb rejected Russia's request, and the company's board of directors decided to cancel the launch plan and evacuate employees from Baikonur. The Russian government subsequently seized the 36 satellites. Since then, Russia has added Neil Masterson, chief executive of OneWeb, to the sanctions list.

OneWeb said in its latest report that in the 12 months ended March 31, the company had revenue of $9.6 million and an overall loss of $390 million. OneWeb also said that the impairment of assets caused by the failed launch and seizure of the satellite amounted to US $230 million.

OneWeb is planning to deploy a space Internet of 650 satellites to provide broadband connectivity. In July, French satellite company Eutelsat announced the acquisition of the company, and the British government will still own a stake in the combined company, which will be listed in Paris. At the same time, the French government will also own part of the company.

Despite Russian sanctions against OneWeb's leadership, Eutelsat, which runs television satellites, insists it will continue to serve Russian customers. About 6.3 per cent of the company's turnover (76 million euros) comes from Russia.

OneWeb fell into bankruptcy crisis in 2020 and was rescued by a joint capital injection of $1 billion by the British government and India's Bharti. The company raised a total of $3.4 billion to build the space Internet before going bankrupt. Since emerging from the bankruptcy crisis, the company has raised $2.7 billion for its satellite projects.

OneWeb said in the report that it had so far received $300m in "committed orders" for its satellite services, including $170 million in "prepaid" funding from Saudi Arabia to provide connectivity services to its currently unbuilt mega-city of Neom.

OneWeb cancelled its launch in Russia and was forced to postpone the deployment of the satellite. OneWeb had hoped to start providing commercial services by the end of 2022, but it may not be possible to restart the satellite launch until December. The company has signed a launch agreement with Elon Musk's SpaceX, despite the latter's competing star chain satellite program.

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