Eutelsat has confirmed that it is on track in the roll-out of the ground network for its OneWeb service after previously reported delays and expects to reach 90% global coverage by the middle of this year.
In January, Eutelsat issued a trading update indicating that the introduction of services on the OneWeb low earth orbit (LEO) network was “running behind schedule relative to the original roadmap.”
However, in its latest revenue report the company said that it is now on track to reach 38 gateways by mid-2024, with 34 already deployed, which would be enough to provide coverage to 90% of the globe.
Some 40 gateways would be required to offer full global coverage with OneWeb’s 633 satellites currently in orbit, excluding restricted areas such as China, Iran, North Korea and Russia.
Eutelsat has already started making plans for a second-generation constellation for the OneWeb network, also confirming that it is currently looking towards choosing a satellite manufacturer this summer. The current generation of satellites has been designed to last through to /2028.
