spacetoday.net: OneWeb announces $500 million in funding, launch contracts

Posted: Sat, Jun 27, 2015, 11:05 AM ET (1505 GMT)
OneWeb satellite (Airbus Defence and Space)

OneWeb, the startup planning a constellation of low Earth orbit satellites for broadband communications, announced this week it has raised $500 million from a group of companies, and signed contracts for at least 60 launches. OneWeb said the $500 million, which will be used to further development of its 648-satellite constellation. The companies investing in OneWeb include Airbus, Virgin, Intelsat, Qualcomm, and Hughes Network Systems. OneWeb also announced a contract for 21 Soyuz launches with Arianespace, and 39 launches of Virgin Galactic's LauncherOne, to deploy and replenish the satellite constellation. OneWeb plans to have its satellites in orbit by 2019.