Oneweb launches first batch of internet satellites in space

The first six satellites for OneWeb's mega-constellation have launched on a Soyuz rocket from French Guiana.

The spacecraft are the pathfinders in a network the London-based start-up is building to take high-speed broadband internet to every corner of the globe.

Other companies have similar plans, but OneWeb believes it has a first-mover advantage with an operational system.

Over the next couple of years, OneWeb plans to keep launching batches of satellites until hundreds of them are in orbit.

The first internet service could come online in 2020. By 2021, OneWeb plans to offer the first global, "5G ready" internet coverage.

The Soyuz left its Sinnamary base at 21:37 GMT for a flight that lasted one hour and 22 minutes.

Controllers in Virginia in the US, and in the UK capital, were primed to talk to the satellites as soon as they came off the top of the Russian rocket.

The platforms' most important task is to secure the frequencies needed to relay the coming network's internet connections.

Assuming the pathfinders perform as expected, OneWeb will then begin the mass rollout of the rest of the constellation towards the end of the year.

This will see another 20 Soyuz rockets launching every month, lofting up 32-36 satellites at a time.

OneWeb says its constellation will be able to deliver 3G, LTE, 5G and Wi-Fi coverage anywhere on Earth, except Antarctica. That means it could create new community Wi-Fi systems, connect remote schools, emergency responders, and ships and aeroplanes while in transit.

CEO Adrián Steckel said OneWeb won't necessarily compete with ground-based service providers.

"We can provide internet where others can't reach," he said. "And as the cost of electronics are coming down, and people want more and more connectivity...there's lots to do."

Attempts to build such networks have failed before. But OneWeb — and SpaceX, which has a similar satellite constellation plan — say recent technological advancements will make their networks more efficient and cheaper to build.

The company was started by American telecoms entrepreneur Greg Wyler.

He'd previously founded another constellation called O3b, which stands for "other three billion" - a reference to that half of the planet without connectivity.