Elon Musk's SpaceX on Thursday confirmed the successful launch of 40 OneWeb satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
What Happened: "Falcon 9 launches 40 @OneWeb satellites to orbit, first stage booster returns to Earth" SpaceX tweeted.
The lift-off took place on Thursday, March 9, at 2:13pm ET and signal acquisition on all 40 satellites has been confirmed, said OneWeb in a statement.
#OneWebLaunch17 is a success!
— OneWeb (@OneWeb) March 9, 2023
We are delighted to report we have made contact with all 40 satellites launches with @SpaceX.
We now have just one launch left until the completion of Gen 1. pic.twitter.com/s3HCExrWh3
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Why It's Important: This launch is OneWeb's 17th to date, and the penultimate mission to complete its first-generation (Gen 1) LEO satellite constellation and enable global coverage in 2023. Thursday's mission takes the number of satellites in this network to 582, the company said in a mission statement.
With just one more launch, OneWeb will finish the constellation's construction, added the statement. "Today's launch is an exciting milestone as we are now just one mission away from completing our Gen 1 constellation, which will activate global service in 2023," CEO Neil Masterson said.
Starlink, the satellite internet constellation operated by SpaceX similar to OneWeb, has over 4,000 satellites in low-Earth orbit, according to astronomer Jonathan McDowell. In December, SpaceX announced that Starlink has crossed the one million active subscribers milestone.
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