The Arianespace corporation said that the mission will last 3 hours and 51 minutes
PARIS, April 19. /TASS/. The launch of the next batch of OneWeb spacecraft using the Soyuz-2.1 b launch vehicle and the Fregat upper stage from the Vostochny cosmodrome is scheduled for April 26 at 01: 14 Moscow time. This was reported on Monday in the press service of the French corporation Arianespace.
"The next mission is scheduled from the Vostochny cosmodrome with the Soyuz spacecraft on April 26. The planned launch time is 00: 14 Paris time (01: 14 Moscow time), " the press service noted. The corporation said that " the mission will last 3 hours and 51 minutes."
As the company recalled, today the group of OneWeb satellites in low-Earth orbit has 146 spacecraft, and it is planned to launch hundreds of others. The upcoming launch should bring the number of OneWeb spacecraft in orbit to 182.
The first six OneWeb satellites went into orbit from the Kourou cosmodrome on a Soyuz-ST rocket on February 28, 2019. From Baikonur on February 7, 2020, 34 spacecraft were launched into space, and on March 21-the same number. For the first time, OneWeb satellites were launched from the Vostochny cosmodrome in December 2020 (36 vehicles), and on March 25, another 36 satellites were launched from there. In total, the company intends to deploy about 600 satellites in low-Earth orbit.
OneWeb's updated agreement with Arianespace calls for the launch of 16 Russian Soyuz rockets from the Kourou, Vostochny and Baikonur cosmodromes in 2020-2022. Each launch will allow to put 34-36 vehicles into orbit.