OneWeb and Eutelsat have agreed to merge for $3.4 billion, creating a competitor in global internet connections that will compete with SpaceX’s Starlink and Amazon’s Kuiper. The two firms claim they would link low-Earth orbit satellites that provide quicker connections with less lag and geostationary satellites that have greater capacity and cover more regions, with OneWeb continuing to operate as its own brand under Eutelsat.
Eutelsat, established in France, delivers television and internet services through 36 satellites in geostationary orbit near the Earth’s equator. OneWeb, which launched its first internet-broadcasting satellites in early 2019, now has around 428 satellites in orbit out of the 648 it expects to have as part of its constellation and has so far negotiated arrangements centered on functioning as a provider for governments and other enterprises such as AT&T.
Project Kuiper, Amazon’s low-Earth orbit satellite internet initiative, has scheduled 83 launch missions over a five-year period to deliver its projected constellation of 3,236 satellites but has yet to launch any. In contrast, SpaceX Starlink has already launched hundreds of satellites, has over 250,000 users, and is already delivering high-speed internet access in dozens of countries with different service choices. Take a look at our video detailing the present state of affairs and the possible effect of satellite internet services for additional information on the current status of satellite-delivered internet.
OneWeb battled with SpaceX early on to deliver internet access to the Arctic. The business launched 36 satellites into orbit in March 2021 and claimed last July that it had accomplished its “Five to 50” mission to deliver coverage from the North Pole to the 50th Parallel. It aimed for worldwide coverage by June of this year, but scheduled launches from Russia were halted after the country’s invasion of Ukraine. As Russia delayed the launches in order to extract demands from OneWeb, the firm was obliged to rely on SpaceX to finish its network.
After the transaction is finalized, current OneWeb stockholders will own 50% of Eutelsat, which might happen in the first half of 2023. The clearance procedure also entails traversing the UK’s National Security and Investments Act in order to assess any possible concerns to national security that the merger may pose.
