Russian space vehicle manufacturer Glavkosmos, a subsidiary of state space agency Roscosmos, will continue manufacturing Soyuz launch vehicles and Fregat upper stage propulsion for OneWeb despite the latter's' bankruptcy, head of Glavkosmos Dmitry Loskunov, has told Sputnik
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th June, 2020) Russian space vehicle manufacturer Glavkosmos, a subsidiary of state space agency Roscosmos, will continue manufacturing Soyuz launch vehicles and Fregat upper stage propulsion for OneWeb despite the latter's' bankruptcy, head of Glavkosmos Dmitry Loskunov, has told Sputnik.
OneWeb is a US-UK private satellite manufacturing company that planned to launch up to 672 satellites into low Earth orbit with the vision to provide broadband internet access to the entire world's surface. In 2015, the company penned a contract with Roscosmos through European aerospace company Arianespace to carry out 21 launches to deliver all the satellites into space. In late March, OneWeb filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in a New York state court.
"The overwhelming majority of funds under this contract have already been received by our enterprises, and almost all of the material and technical part should be produced before the end of this year," Loskunov said.
If OneWeb is not able to find investors and go through with the project, Arianespace will be obligated to find other uses for the launch vehicles in question.
"At best, the OneWeb project will get a second wind, possibly with the participation of new investors. Be that as it may, we hope for the financial recovery of OneWeb, and, of course, we would be interested to continue working within the framework of this comprehensive and significant international project," Loskunov added.
The Russian aerospace agency has already carried out three launches under the contract, delivering a handful of satellites into space.
