It doesn't look like OneWeb's next bunch of internet satellites will be up and running soon.
Thirty-six OneWeb broadband spacecraft had been scheduled to launch on Friday (March 4) atop a Soyuz rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
The launch was not going to happen unless OneWeb guaranteed that the satellites wouldn't be used for military purposes. The Russian space agency demanded that the United Kingdom government give up its stake in the company. OneWeb was bought out of bankruptcy by the UK government.
Satellite photos show a Russian military convoy.
Those demands are unlikely to be met. The UK will not sell its shares in OneWeb. According to SpaceNews, the company has pulled its employees out of Baikonur.
Chris McLaughlin, OneWeb's chief of government, regulatory affairs and engagement, told SpaceNews that staff were ordered to leave the site on Wednesday.
OneWeb is building a broadband network that will have 648 satellites. France-based company Arianespace is launching the spacecraft using Soyuz rockets that have lifted off from Baikonur, Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia's Far East and Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana.
More than 400 OneWeb satellites have reached their destinations. The plan to launch the remaining spacecraft from Baikonur on a series of missions this year is far from certain.
Mike Wall is the author of Out There, a book about the search for alien life. You can follow him on social media. Follow us on social media.
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