OneWeb, a new space agency in the United Kingdom, now wants to go toe-to-toe with Elon Musk's Starlink program. The new company says that the plan of Starlink is not a responsible way for the next generations.
According to Business Insider's latest report, the British-owned satellite broadband operator previously suffered from bankruptcy in November and was almost shut down because of financial issues. However, it was able to bounce back, allowing it to compete against one of the biggest private space agencies.
The new space agency also wants to widen its internet service by launching hundreds of satellites in orbit across the world.
OneWeb's chief of regulation, engagement, and government, Chris McLaughlin, said that launching thousands of internet satellites is not a good way to help the next generations of people.
OneWeb's plan
OneWeb's plan is similar to SpaceX. However, the company confirmed that it only wants to send around 648 satellites at 1,200 kilometers in orbit to provide the places that badly need internet service.
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On the other hand, SpaceX now has a total of more than 1,300 Starlink satellites at 550 kilometers in orbit. Elon Musk's space agency wants to improve this and launch 42,000 by mid-2027.
However, there are some critics and analysts that are saying that Elon Musk's Starlink satellites could lead to space pollution since there are already thousands of them in space.
Unlike SpaceX, OneWeb seems to not focus on the number of internet satellites.
"We're beginning to think less is more," said Chris McLaughlin. "[Musk and Bezos] both want to put them up in the same place at 550 km and have nobody else in their way," he added.
OneWeb already released 36 satellites
As of the moment, OneWeb was able to send 36 broadband internet satellites in orbit. BBC News confirmed on Mar. 25 that the U.K. space agency was able to raise more than $400 million budget from various tech firms, such as Hughes Network Systems and Softbank.
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Written by: Giuliano de Leon
