SpaceX launched 20 spare OneWeb satellites on Oct. 20, 2023, to strengthen the resiliency of French operator Eutelsat’s rival low Earth orbit (LEO) broadband network.
Eutelsat confirmed successful contact with each satellite following launch on a Falcon 9 rocket at 1:13 a.m. Eastern from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California.
Eutelsat spokesperson Katie Dowd stated that the company now has 654 satellites in orbit for the constellation, which already provided global coverage but faced delays due to ground infrastructure issues.
Dowd mentioned the operator remains on track to launch global services in the spring.
The satellites are identical to those in OneWeb’s first-generation constellation, primarily constructed at Airbus U.S. Space & Defense’s mass production facility in Merritt Island, Florida.
Eutelsat, also operating a fleet of 36 geostationary satellites, has not disclosed plans to introduce LEO spacecraft with enhanced technology after opting for a phased next-generation constellation deployment strategy.
According to Dowd, the company expects to start de-orbiting Gen 1 OneWeb satellites in the coming years as the initial batch of LEO spacecraft approaches the end of their design lifespan.
“We have the option to prolong the life of Gen 1 to assume customer continuity as we examine options for Next Gen,” she said via email.
The Falcon 9’s first-stage booster successfully landed at Vandenberg less than eight minutes after launch, marking the 357th successful recovery of an orbital-class booster by SpaceX.
Meanwhile, SpaceX has launched over 7,000 broadband satellites for its Starlink LEO network and recently achieved four million subscribers for the service.
Eutelsat and other legacy geostationary operators aim to leverage the flexibility and resilience of a multi-orbit network to compete with Starlink for enterprise and government customers.