MOSCOW, October 14. /TASS/. The first eight British OneWeb communications satellites launched atop a Soyuz -2.1b carrier rocket from the Vostochny spaceport in the Russian Far East have separated from a Fregat booster, Russia’s federal space agency Roscosmos announced on its Twitter on Thursday.
"The first four OneWeb satellites have separated from the Fregat booster," the statement says. Roscosmos later said that another four OneWeb satellites had separated from the booster. Overall, 36 OneWeb satellites will be put into orbit.
The Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket with the Fregat booster and 36 British OneWeb communications satellites blasted off from the Vostochny spaceport in the Russian Far East at 12:40 p.m. Moscow time on October 14. The satellites will separate from the booster in several stages. The launch will increase the OneWeb orbital constellation to 358 satellites.
The first six OneWeb satellites were orbited by a Soyuz-ST carrier rocket from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana on February 28, 2019. Another 34 satellites were delivered into outer space on February 7, 2020, and the same amount on March 21 that year from the Baikonur spaceport.
OneWeb satellites were launched from the Vostochny spaceport for the first time in December 2020. A total of 36 space vehicles were put into orbit. After that, OneWeb satellites were launched on March 25, April 26, May 28 and July 1, 2021, from the Vostochny spaceport and on August 22 and September 14 this year from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.