OREANDA-NEWS. On Thursday, March 25, a new group of British company «OneWeb» spacecraft was launched into orbit from the Russian «Vostochny» cosmodrome. The «Soyuz-2.1 b» launch vehicle with the «Fregat» upper stage and 36 «OneWeb» communications satellites was successfully launched, after 561.8 seconds, the head part in normal mode separated from the third stage of the carrier, the press service of the «Roscosmos» reports.

All satellites have been successfully launched into the specified orbits and taken under control, after the separation of the spacecraft, the «Fregat» upper stage will be de-orbited, and the fireproof elements will be flooded in the Pacific Ocean, the report continues. The launch was the fifth in the «OneWeb» launch campaign and was carried out under the contract of «Glavkosmos» (part of «Roscosmos») with the European launch services provider «Arianespace» and the Russian-French company «Starsem».

The launch was the first at the «Vostochny» cosmodrome in 2021. «OneWeb» low-orbit vehicles are designed to provide high-speed Internet directly via satellite communications. The weight of each satellite is about 150 kg, with an estimated service life of five years. Now there are 146 «OneWeb» satellites in low-Earth orbit, and several hundred more are planned to be launched.