MOSCOW, March 4. /TASS/. General Director of the Roscosmos space agency Dmitry Rogozin gave instructions to cancel preparations for the launch of OneWeb satellites from the Baikonur Cosmodrome scheduled for March 5.
"Proceeding from the fact that the OneWeb company did not comply with our legitimate demands to submit information on the use or non-use of the system for military purposes, including in the interests of the Pentagon and NATO member states, due to the fact that the British government that is currently conducting an anti-Russian campaign retains a prominent position among the members of the board of directors of the OneWeb company, [I hereby order] to stop preparations for the launch, remove the rocket from the launching complex, return it to the technical complex, and store space devices at the integration and test facility for conservation," the space chief said at a state committee session aired on the Roscosmos website.
He also instructed to stop preparations for the launch of British OneWeb communications satellites from three spaceports.
"All the launches from all Russian launch pads in Kourou, in Baikonur and at the Vostochny Cosmodrome involving the OneWeb company are to be stopped," the Roscosmos CEO said.
Earlier, he said that the launch wouldn't be performed if the state corporation doesn't receive guarantees on the use of the UK satellites strictly for civilian purposes. Another condition was the exclusion of the UK government from among OneWeb's shareholders.
In his turn, General Director of Glavkosmos (a subsidiary of Roscosmos) Dmitry Loskutov said that OneWeb's response was received on Thursday afternoon. "Our partners think that the guarantees that were given four years ago are sufficient. We are confident that our demand is legitimate and the guarantees are not applicable anymore due to a significant change in circumstances," he noted.
The launch of the Soyuz 2.1b rocket with OneWeb satellites from Baikonur was scheduled for March 5 at 01:41 Moscow time. The British OneWeb low-orbit satellites are designed to create a space-based communications system to provide high-speed Internet access in any location worldwide. All the satellites currently in orbit have been delivered by the Russian Soyuz rockets.