spacetoday.net: UK government, Indian company to buy OneWeb

Posted: Sat, Jul 4, 2020, 10:50 AM ET (1450 GMT)
OneWeb satellite (Airbus Defence and Space)

The British government joined forces with an Indian telecom company to secure the winning bid for the assets of satellite megaconstellation company OneWeb, they announced Friday. The British government and Indian mobile network operator Bharti Global are each providing $500 million to buy OneWeb, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States in March. The deal, pending court approval, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2020. The UK government says it plans to build out the OneWeb constellation to provide global broadband services, and government officials have previously suggested that they will use OneWeb to provide navigation services of some kind. The sale may also result in manufacturing of the satellites to move from the US to the UK.