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'India stepped up for us post Ukraine, Isro can compete with SpaceX'

Bengaluru: Bharati Enterprises founder-chairman and OneWeb executive chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal, while terming Sunday’s launch as the most critical for the UK-based firm, said Isro ’s GSLV-Mk3 or LVM3 is now the only serious competitor to the US’ SpaceX with Russia’s Soyuz losing favour post Ukraine conflict and delays in new rocket development by France’s Arianespace.

In a video interaction with select journalists, Mittal said: “India really stepped up when we needed them the most. We had a major setback after the Russia-Ukraine war with six launches that were fully paid for being taken out. Not only is OneWeb struggling to get the money back, but it also lost 36 satellites and three very valuable dispensers, and importantly a year.”

Pointing out that the global launch industry is not very easy once Soyuz, the workhorse of Roscosmos (Russian space agency), is taken out as there are only very few options, he said Prime Minister Modi recognised this moment and directed the entire ecosystem to give two rockets to OneWeb. “That was a game-changer for us,” he said.

“Today also marks a very important day for India where Isro and NSIL have established themselves in a very certain manner that there’s a serious significant player in the commercial space launch market. The Soyuz is out, Arianespace’s Ariane-V is retired, Vega launchers have been taken out and Ariane-VI is heavily delayed. So, there are only really two serious players and I really hope Isro takes this opportunity to showcase themselves around the globe and become a dominant competitor to SpaceX,” Mittal said.

While Sunday’s launch took the total of OneWeb’s constellation to 618 satellites, the firm said: “The constellation design calls for 588 satellites for global coverage and additional satellites are planned for resilience and redundancy. Thanks to today’s successful launch the constellation is in place to soon deliver global services.” By the year-end, OneWeb will be ready to roll out global coverage, enhancing its existing connectivity solutions that have already been made live in regions north of 50-degrees latitude as it brings new areas online by partnering with leading providers.

The firm said once activated, its coverage solutions will bring secure connectivity to enterprises, towns, villages, municipalities and schools, including the most remote areas across the country. Mittal added: “In my work, I’ve seen the power of connectivity to bring benefits to all. Yet, half the world’s population does not have access to fast, reliable connectivity. Today’s launch represents a major step towards closing the digital divide. OneWeb’s global constellation will play a pivotal role in realising this dream and I am delighted that the UK and India are at the forefront of developments.”

UK secretary of state for science, innovation and technology, Michelle Donelan, said: “The completion of the LEO (low earth orbit) constellation is hugely significant both for OneWeb and the UK’s wider sector. We invested in OneWeb’s vision to bridge the global digital divide, and our burgeoning space sector is transforming the UK into the perfect base for like-minded companies to realise their stratospheric potential.”