OneWeb Satellites furloughing employees
After its parent company filed for bankruptcy last week, Space Coast-based satellite manufacturer OneWeb Satellites is furloughing some of its staff at its recently opened, $85 million satellite factory in Florida.
The company, which owns the production facility the size of two football fields just outside the gates of Kennedy Space Center, didn’t say how many staffers or what percentage of its personnel was being let go temporarily as a result of the coronavirus outbreak that has decimated businesses across the United States. The company has about 200 employees in Florida.
OneWeb Satellites said the pandemic was the key driver for the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filed on Friday by parent company OneWeb, which laid off about 85% of its 531 employees, according to a report from Space News.
The satellite arm of the company based in Florida is a joint venture owned 50% by OneWeb and 50% by Airbus.
OneWeb Satellites said the reduction in staff was necessary to maintain operations in Florida, which have been impacted by a slowing manufacturing supply chain as other businesses also get hit, as well as travel disruptions. It said it has no plans of filing for bankruptcy.
“We truly appreciate the cooperation and patience of our employees, suppliers and stakeholders as we manage our operations during this historic period,” said Tony Gingiss, CEO of OneWeb Satellites in a press release. “Our priority remains our employees’ health and safety while maintaining our business.”
In July, OneWeb satellites opened its manufacturing facility on the Space Coast where it’s been building two 330-pound satellites, about the size of a mini-fridge, a day. The satellites were already being launched in batches of about 30. As recently as March 21, 34 OneWeb satellites launched from Kazakhstan to low-Earth orbit as part of the company’s goal to digital connectivity to schools in remote areas of the globe.
But financially, delivering a telecommunications constellation is a challenging feat. SpaceX is the only other private company currently doing it, and CEO Elon Musk has said it is one of the biggest engineering challenges he’s ever faced.
“No one has ever succeeded in making a financially viable [low-Earth orbit] communication constellation right off the bat,” Musk said on a call with reporters in May 2019, when SpaceX launched its first mission carrying its own telecommunications satellites, called Starlink.
After opening its Space Coast Factory, OneWeb founder and chairman Greg Wyler said he believed the company was “over the hump.”
“That ability to have functioning satellites, a supply chain, all the launches set up, puts OneWeb in an incredible position to deliver on its mission,” he said in July.