OneWeb’s global broadband vision
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OneWeb claims its low Earth orbit satellite network can deliver fast broadband to ships, aircraft and the most remote locations on Earth
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BROADBAND SYSTEM

Terminal: Encrypts data and sends to satellite fleet overhead (at up
to 32Mbps*)

Satellite: Signal beamed to network portal on Earth (at up to 177Mbps) and back into
internet

Time: 1/10th sec
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SATELLITE CONSTELLATION

74 of planned 648 OneWeb satellites launched to date

Satellites, each with life expectancy of five years, occupy 12 polar orbits

Mar 2020: OneWeb asks U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to approve expansion of its constellation of satellites to 48,000. Company files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
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WHY LOW EARTH ORBIT IS FASTER 

OneWeb low Earth orbit (LEO): 1,200km

Latency (delay in sending and receiving data): 50-100 milli- seconds (ms)

Note: Doubts remain as to viability of OneWeb to double as sat-nav system

Galileo sat-nav system, medium Earth orbit (MEO): 23,222km Latency: Around 370ms

Geostationary orbit (GEO): 35,000km Latency: 560ms
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Jun 2020: UK government enters into joint venture with India’s Bharti Global to buy loss-making OneWeb for $1bn. UK set to lose access to EU Galileo system after Brexit
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*Megabits per second – 1 byte = 8 bits, therefore 32Mbps = 4 megabytes (MB) of data per second Sources: OneWeb, The Parliamentary Review, Financial Times, E&T © GRAPHIC NEWS