File:Arianespace TV - VS21 Succesful Mission.webm

English: ARIANESPACE SUCCESSFULLY PERFORMS THE FIRST OF 21 LAUNCHES FOR THE ONEWEB CONSTELLATION

Flight VS21 Arianespace’s second launch of the year took place on Wednesday, February 27, at 6:37 p.m., (Kourou time) from the Guiana Space Center (CSG), Europe’sspaceport in French Guiana (South America).

By operating this maiden flight, the first of 21 launches contracted by OneWeb in 2015,Arianespace contributes to the fulfilment of its customer’s ultimate ambition: providing Internet access to everyone, everywhere.

The maiden mission for OneWeb brought the number of constellation satellites orbited by Arianespace to 109, which demonstrates a remarkable ability to meet the needs of this market segment with its current and future family of launchers.

Stéphane Israël, Arianespace Chief Executive Officer, said: “By deploying the OneWeb constellation,Arianespace also accomplishes its mission: ‘Using space for a better life on Earth’ when participating in thebuild-up of a global communications network that will bridge the digital divide. The success of this first flight marks the go-ahead of 20 more Soyuz launches contracted by OneWeb in 2015, representing more than 600 satellites to be orbited in less than two years - and we take great pride in working toward such anobjective!”

Arianespace at the service of global communications

As the opening launch on behalf of the satellite operator OneWeb, today’s flight VS21 paves the way for the deployment phase of its initial constellation  for which Arianespace is to operate 20 more medium-lift Soyuz launches from three spaceports (Kourou in French Guiana; Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and Vostochny in Russia) through 2020.

OneWeb’s mission is to deliver global communications through a next-generation satellite constellation that brings seamless connectivity to everyone, everywhere.

Placed in low-Earth orbit at an altitude of 1,000 km., the constellation will provide high-speed, low latency services to a wide range of markets, including aviation, maritime, backhaul services, community Wi-Fi, emergency response services and more, delivering high-speed access around the world  by air, sea and land.

OneWeb Satellites  a joint-venture between OneWeb and Airbus Defence and Space  is the constellation’sprime contractor.

OneWeb’s initial constellation will be composed of approximately 650 satellites and could expand to more than 900 as it grows to meet demand around the world. Commercial services are scheduled to begin in 2021.

Additional details about the OneWeb F6 payload on Flight VS21 are included in the mission’s launch kit, available on arianespace.com.

Arianespace demonstrates its capacity to deploy all types of satellite constellations

With its current family of launchers (Ariane 5, Soyuz and Vega) and the future family (Ariane 6 and Vega C), Arianespace is perflecly positioned for the growth market of satellite constellations  including for navigation, telecommunications or Earth observation.

Indeed, since the early 1990s, Arianespace has launched a total of 83 commercial constellation satellites; composed of 56 satellites for Globalstar, 16 for O3b, six for OneWeb, four for Planet and one for Orbcomm; as well as 26 institutional constellation satellites for the European Space Agency ESA and the European Commission as part of the Galileo program.

Arianespace and satellite constellations

 109 satellites orbited by Arianespace using Ariane 4, Ariane 5, Soyuz and Vega, on behalf of constellations.

 More than 600 satellites to put into orbit for OneWeb.

 20 constellation satellites in its order book for satellite constellation operators SES (with Soyuz), Airbus Defence and Space (on Vega C), ESA and the European Commission (using Ariane 6) and Spire (aboard Vega).

The launch at a glance

307th Mission forArianespace’s familyof launchers 2nd Launch of the year 1st Soyuz launch in 2019 47th Soyuz mission for Arianespace 21st Soyuz launch from the CSG

Technical sheet

The launch was performed on February 27, 2019 from the Soyuz Launch Complex (ELS) in Sinnamary,

French Guiana, at exactly:

4:37 p.m., in Washington, D.C. 6:37 p.m., in Kourou, French Guiana 21h37 Universal Time (UTC) 10:37 p.m., in Paris. 0:37 a.m., in Moscow on February 28, 2019 6:37 a.m., in Tokyo on February 28, 2019.

The launcher carried a total payload of: 1,945.2 kg.