On Saturday the global communications company OneWeb launched its second large batch of satellites into low-Earth orbit—the additional 34 spacecraft brought its overall constellation to 74 satellites. The launch occurred on a Soyuz rocket, which lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
After the launch, OneWeb Chief Executive Adrian Steckel sought to put the launch in the context of the global pandemic of Covid-19 by highlighting connectivity as an essential service.
“People around the world find themselves trying to continue their lives and work online,” he said. “We see the need for OneWeb, greater now more than ever before. High-quality connectivity is the lifeline to enabling people to work, continue their education, stay up to date on important healthcare information and stay meaningfully connected to one another.”
Fiscal concerns
However, even before Saturday’s launch, there were warning signs on the horizon. Last week, Bloomberg reported that OneWeb is considering filing for bankruptcy protection as it deals with a cash crunch.
In recent years, OneWeb has raised nearly $3 billion from SoftBank as it has sought to ramp up production capability for its 150kg satellites in Florida, secure launch contracts to get them into orbit, and obtain regulatory approvals. This difficulty comes just as the global economy is entering a downturn due to Covid-19.
Prior to Saturday’s launch, OneWeb acknowledged these financial difficulties in a statement, saying it was contemplating the need to “dynamically adjust” its workforce. “Unfortunately, we think it is inevitable that there will be delays to our launch schedule and satellite manufacturing due to increasing travel restrictions and the disruption of supply chains globally,” the company said. “Therefore, we made the difficult decision to eliminate some roles and responsibilities as we work to focus on core operations.”