Sriharikota: OneWeb will give Indian Space Agency (ISRO) Rs 2,000 crore to launch 72 satellites designed for satellite internet service.
The merger between French satellite company Eutelsat Communications and OneWeb will be completed by April-May 2023 and Eutelsat will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of OneWeb, IANS reports, citing top company officials.
OneWeb Chairman Sunil Mittal Bharti recently stated that ISRO will pay Rs 1,000 crore to launch 36 satellites on a GSLV Mark 3 rocket at 12.07 pm on Sunday. Another launch in January will also launch 36 satellites.
OneWeb aims to establish a network of 648 satellites. The goal is to provide broadband services worldwide.
ISRO will launch 10 percent of OneWeb’s satellites. The total cost for this is 2000 crore rupees. Bharti Global MD Shravan Mittal said.
He said that there are discussions regarding utilization of ISRO’s satellites for the company. Meanwhile, OneWeb is also planning to use the PSLV rocket to reposition some satellites. At the same time, the company is also considering using Eutelsat’s geostationary satellites.