In addition to SpaceX, other companies with large satellite constellations also want to provide better Internet access. OneWeb has now launched dozens of satellites.

(Image: OneWeb)

The European rocket operator Arianespace has sent further satellites into space for better Internet supply on earth. On Friday evening (local time), a Russian Soyuz rocket took off from the Vostochny spaceport in the far east of the country, as the Russian space agency Roskosmos announced on Twitter. On board were 36 satellites from the British communications company OneWeb.

Further starts planned It was not the first start of this kind: Overall will be 672 Satellites put into near-earth orbit are now 110 above, Arianespace announced . The satellites are intended to provide a high-speed network for the Internet on earth, by sea, on land and in the air. In addition, further starts are planned until the end 2022.

The OneWeb group, which has been saved from bankruptcy, plans to start commercial services by the end of 2021. The competition is fierce: Billionaires like Tesla boss Elon Musk with his space company SpaceX also want to set up satellite networks for Internet supply. The Vostochny spaceport around 2022 kilometers east of Moscow was only 2016 opened.

(mho)