OneWeb has over 400 satellites in orbit, all launched on Soyuz rockets, as part of its space internet mega constellation. This is quite impressive, considering the company almost went bankrupt last year.
OneWeb was rescued from the said bankruptcy last year by the U.K. government and Indian carrier Bharti Global.
OneWeb’s satellites were built in Merritt Island, Florida, through a joint venture with Airbus Defence and Space. The venture ended up costing twice as much as was budgeted for. Hence the threat of bankruptcy.
How much does oneWeb satellite cost?
After its brush with bankruptcy, the initial wave of 648 satellites was at a cost of $2.4 billion.
Now though, it is estimated the cost of OneWeb will be between $80 and $100 million, with a cost of $1.2 million per satellite.
It is quite notable that, OneWeb’s first six satellites were launched in February 2019, with the first large batch of 34 satellites was launched a year after in February 2020, and another 34 were put into orbit in March 2020. These were followed by more launches in 2021.
Before the bankruptcy, OneWeb was steady making progress and is still making progress after.