SpaceX gives rival's internet satellites ride to orbit - The San Diego Union-Tribune

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — 

SpaceX launched net satellites for a rival Thursday, stepping successful to assistance aft the London-based OneWeb institution halted its flights with Russia implicit the penetration of Ukraine.

The Falcon rocket blasted disconnected astatine sunset with 40 mini satellites bound for polar orbit. They volition grow OneWeb’s constellation to conscionable implicit 500, astir 80% of the planned full of astir 630 satellites.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has much than 3,200 Starlink satellites successful orbit, providing high-speed, broadband net to distant corners of the world. Amazon plans to motorboat the archetypal of its net satellites aboriginal adjacent twelvemonth from Cape Canaveral.

With the marketplace for planetary net work “growing exponentially,” there’s country for everyone, said Massimiliano Ladovaz, OneWeb’s main exertion officer.

SpaceX agreed to motorboat satellites for OneWeb aft the British institution broke ties with Russia successful March. Russian Soyuz rockets already had launched 13 batches of OneWeb satellites, opening successful 2019.

India picked up the slack successful October, sending up a batch of OneWeb satellites.

Although determination were different motorboat options, SpaceX and India offered the fastest and champion combination, Ladovaz said soon earlier liftoff.

Two much SpaceX launches and 1 much by India are planned for OneWeb successful the adjacent respective months to implicit the company’s orbiting constellation by spring. OneWeb already is providing net work successful Alaska, Canada and bluish Europe; the newest satellites volition summation the scope to the full U.S. and Europe, arsenic good arsenic ample parts of Africa and South America, and elsewhere, according to Ladovaz.

OneWeb satellites — each astir the size of a washing instrumentality and weighing 330 pounds (150 kilograms) — are built astatine NASA’s Kennedy Space Center done a associated task with France’s Airbus.

Thursday’s motorboat occurred conscionable respective miles distant from the aforesaid pad wherever Apollo astronauts blasted disconnected for the moon, the past clip connected Dec. 7, 1972.

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