New batch of satellites brings broadband to the Arctic
36 satellites by British communication company OneWeb were successfully placed in orbit late Sunday evening by a Soyuz rocket from Russia’s Vostochny cosmodrome.
“We get ever closer to bringing our connectivity services to some of the world’s hardest to reach places,” said Neil Masterson, CEO with OneWeb.
The 36 satellites are part of a planned fleet of 648 Low Earth Orbit communication satellites required to cover the globe. More interesting for people, shipping and businesses up north is the soon operational network covering all regions north of 50 degrees latitude. Those satellites will be up by the end of June and services will be online from the end of this year.
“With this third successful launch in our ´Five to 50´program, we are rapidly building momentum,” Masterson said in the company’s press statement.
The program will enable OneWeb to offer from space broadband services to Alaska, Canada, Northern Europe, Greenland, Iceland and the Arctic Sea.
Internet speed via Iridium satellite links have so far been limited the further north you travel. With increased shipping, and more technology based industries, demand for commercial satellite-based high-speed communication in the Arctic is big.
In the start, OneWeb will offer coverage to fixed receivers in the Arctic, but from next year, mobile services will be available for use onboard ships sailing at high latitudes.
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: Northwestel looking to build fibre line under Great Slave Lake in Northern Canada, CBC News
Finland: Major step towards a Europe-Asia Arctic cable link, Yle News
Greenland: Canadian eastern Arctic: Nunavut-Greenland fibre cable to cost $80M more than planned, CBC News
Norway: New satellites to boost communications in Arctic Norway, The Independent Barents Observer
Russia: Work on high-tech digitalization of Russia’s entire Arctic starts this spring, The Independent Barents Observer
United States: Company completes 1st overland fibre-optic cable connecting Alaska to continental U.S., The Associated Press
