OneWeb pressured to call off Russian rocket launch

The UK government has been urged not to allow a rocket used by a company it part-owns to lift off from a Russian-run launch pad.

A rocket carrying satellites for OneWeb is going to be launched on Friday.

The chair of the business committee called it inappropriate.

The government said it was talking to OneWeb.

The company has not made any public statements on the topic.

OneWeb was bought out of bankruptcy in 2020 by the UK taxpayers.

Mr Jones said that the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) was given a seat on the board of the resurrected company.

He said that OneWeb should not be engaging in commercial activities with Russian companies.

The OneWeb board should be working with the ministers to secure this outcome.

There are just a few launches left to complete OneWeb's network of 648 satellites.

Russian Soyuz vehicles are scheduled to fly out of Baikonur in the coming months and all of the missions are booked on them. OneWeb paid for the rocket service.

The company can deliver broadband internet connections to locations above 50 degrees North, but it needs more satellites if it wants to run a truly global service.

Europe, Africa and Asia would be left out.

Mr Jones wrote a letter to the minister. The Labour MP wants to know what the government is doing to help OneWeb find alternative rockets.

There is currently very little lift capability available for the company.

European rockets such as Ariane-5 or Ariane 6 are either already booked up or not yet available. Changing to a different type of vehicle would require re-engineering of the mechanism that holds the satellites on top of the Soyuz and sends them into space at the required time.

The Russian space agency said that the latest Soyuz would be sent to the Baikonur launch pad on Wednesday with 36 OneWeb satellites.

The launch is on Friday.