Satellites set for launch to beam internet to your home

ONEWEB, the British internet firm armed with billions of pounds of investment, is preparing to launch dozens of satellites this week as it closes in on another giant funding round.

It has ambitious plans to have thousands of small satellites connecting the most remote parts of the world to the internet.

On Friday, OneWeb will launch 34 of its fridge-sized satellites from Kazakhstan – the first in a series of launches to fill the sky with an initial 648 satellites.

Orbiting the earth 750 miles above its surface, they will act as a link between homes and much larger satellites 22,000 miles high. These larger ones provide homes with internet via phone masts.

OneWeb is backed by SoftBank and Sir Richard Branson, but it faces competition from Amazon and Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which have similar plans.

The first of OneWeb’s regular launches is about six weeks late, with chief executive Adrian Steckel blaming ‘a couple of snags’.

But he said the company was already signing contracts with partners around the world, however declined to name them.

He confirmed OneWeb was in talks with investors about another big funding round after reports suggested it was seeking a further $1 billion to fund its project.

He said: ‘Our last big round was about 11 months ago and we’re in lots of discussions and they’re progressing very, very well.’

He said the Government’s decision to let Huawei operate parts of Britain’s 5G network ‘makes the most sense for the UK and I applaud them for it’.