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OneWeb launches mega-constellation pathfinder satellites
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-47374246OneWeb launches mega-constellation pathfinder satellites
By Jonathan Amos
BBC Science Correspondent
27 February 2019
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 first-mover advantage with an operational system.
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.
