U.K.-based OneWeb is one launch away from having enough satellites in orbit to cover the entire expanse of the Earth. Once ready, Elon Musk's Starlink won't be the only company offering such as service, theBoth OneWeb and Starlink use constellations of satellites in low Earth orbits instead of the conventional geostationary orbits . The lower altitude of the LEO satellites helps in reducing latency or the delay that data takes to make a round trip over a network.
The company was rescued by a joint venture between the U.K. government and international telecom provider Bharti and has made a remarkable turnaround putting an additional 500 satellites into orbit so far. OneWeb's fleet of satellites is divided into 12 separate planes in the sky and relies on automation for their management. It is the only other company, besides Musk's SpaceX, that has put satellites into orbit to provide internet services so far. Interestingly, OneWebHowever, this is where the similarities between the companies end.
The company, which only began services in May last year, had $800 million in backlog booking by December. The satellites it sent up last year are expected to go online by May this year and provide services in 48 states in the U.S. as well as northern Mediterranean regions.By the end of the summer, the service will extend to Mexico, Northern Africa, and India; equatorial areas could be connected by the end of the year.
With a constellation size of lesser than 1,000, OneWeb is poised to take on Starlink. The era of satellite-based internet has now truly begun.