OneWeb, a low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite communications company backed by Bharti, has signed an agreement with New Space India Limited to launch its satellites into space, according to a press release by the company. New Space India is the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). WIth this agreement, OneWeb will be able to leverage ISRO’s infrastructure with a scheduled launch in 2022 itself from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. The company revealed that additional terms of the agreement remain confidential. "This partnership has the potential to drive the attention of many international players towards India’s capabilities leading to significant increase in our share in the international space economy which is just 2.6 per cent currently," Lt. Gen. AK Bhatt (Retd.), Director General, Indian Space Association, told MediaNama in a statement*. OneWeb currently boasts of a total in-orbit constellation of 428 satellites which is 66 percent of its planned total fleet. The launch will add to the existing cohort. The company counts several parties such as the UK government and Bharti, Airtel’s parent company, as investors in OneWeb. “This most recent agreement on launch plans adds considerable momentum to the development of OneWeb’s network,” Sunil Bharti Mittal, OneWeb Executive Chairman, said in a statement. The launch may help OneWeb, which is one of the major satellite internet companies, deploy its network quickly; the swift and cost-effective roll-out is likely to give the company an edge over its competitors like Jio, Amazon, and Tata. OneWeb will…
