Russian Manufacturer Completed Construction Of Soyuz Rockets To Launch OneWeb Satellites

Russian Manufacturer Completed Construction of Soyuz Rockets to Launch OneWeb Satellites

The construction of Russia's Soyuz rockets for launching UK satellites OneWeb into orbit has been completed, the head of the Russian Progress Rocket Space Centre said on Tuesday

SAMARA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th February, 2021) The construction of Russia's Soyuz rockets for launching UK satellites OneWeb into orbit has been completed, the head of the Russian Progress Rocket Space Centre said on Tuesday.

"All the rockets that were due to be constructed under the OneWeb program are ready. Some of the rockets are at spaceports, while others are here, at our enterprise," Progress General Director Dmitry Baranov told reporters.

All the rockets were expected to have been launched by this date, but the launch was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic and OneWeb bankruptcy, the official explained.

In 2015, OneWeb signed a contract with Russian State Space Corporation Roscosmos through European aerospace company Arianespace to carry out 21 launches to deliver the satellite constellation into space. Late last March, OneWeb filed for bankruptcy in a New York state court after launching just 74 satellites. After a consortium of investors bought OneWeb out of bankruptcy, it announced the resumption of satellite production. A Roscosmos subsidiary told Sputnik in November 2020 that OneWeb planned up to 10 launches in 2021.