Russia has blocked the British OneWeb, relying on the "Sphere"
In today's world, without the Internet, it's just nowhere. Probably, the right of free access to the Global Network should be explicitly stated in the Constitution of the Russian Federation as inalienable, since our country is defined in it as a state of law. However, in practice, everything is not so clear. OneWeb has been denied the necessary radio frequencies for satellite broadband internet. What is the attitude to this decision of Roskomnadzor?
OneWeb is an ambitious project designed to provide Internet access to the entire population of the Earth. The company is registered in the UK, its creator is Greg Wyler, an ex-employee of Google Corporation. Investors are business sharks such as Coca-Cola, Virgin Group, Airbus, Qualcomm, Hughes, SoftBank and Bharti. The British company plans to put into a low orbit about six hundred satellites moving in 18 planes. This grouping should make hundreds of millions of people living in areas where there is no connection happy with broadband Internet access.
A worthy goal. In our country, with its distances, low population of territories and poor infrastructure, in theory, this should be welcomed. Why did OneWeb not please the Russian authorities?
At firstbecause he is British. Our relations with the West and Great Britain, in particular, are going through hard times now. As far back as last year, FSB officials said there were no guarantees that the satellite constellation would not be used for reconnaissance purposes. As a result, the Ministry of Communications of the Russian Federation came to the conclusion that a threat to Russia's national security from a foreign satellite group is not excluded.
Secondly, the low orbit in which the OneWeb satellites are moving can lead to communication interference on the geostationary satellites above. This is precisely what Roskomnadzor referred to, refusing to provide frequencies to the British on July 25, 2019.
This is all clear. But then a logical question arises: why does Russia itself help launch British satellites, which may threaten its national security, into space? The main partner of OneWeb is Roscosmos, which has signed a contract for 21 launches. All space centers - Vostochny, Baikonur and French Kourou will be involved. The state corporation will receive $ 1 billion for its services, but at the same time, authorities refuse their citizens access to broadband Internet anywhere in the country. Why is that?
It is believed that Roscosmos is preparing its "response to Chamberlain," the domestic satellite constellation Sphere. Within its framework, 640 vehicles should be put into orbit. The budget of the program is 299 billion rubles. President Putin on this occasion last year said:
And that's great. But while the project is only at the design stage. The first launch is planned for 2022, and deployment by 2025. At the same time, OneWeb will begin commercial operation in 2020. We all have to wait.
OneWeb is an ambitious project designed to provide Internet access to the entire population of the Earth. The company is registered in the UK, its creator is Greg Wyler, an ex-employee of Google Corporation. Investors are business sharks such as Coca-Cola, Virgin Group, Airbus, Qualcomm, Hughes, SoftBank and Bharti. The British company plans to put into a low orbit about six hundred satellites moving in 18 planes. This grouping should make hundreds of millions of people living in areas where there is no connection happy with broadband Internet access.
A worthy goal. In our country, with its distances, low population of territories and poor infrastructure, in theory, this should be welcomed. Why did OneWeb not please the Russian authorities?
At firstbecause he is British. Our relations with the West and Great Britain, in particular, are going through hard times now. As far back as last year, FSB officials said there were no guarantees that the satellite constellation would not be used for reconnaissance purposes. As a result, the Ministry of Communications of the Russian Federation came to the conclusion that a threat to Russia's national security from a foreign satellite group is not excluded.
Secondly, the low orbit in which the OneWeb satellites are moving can lead to communication interference on the geostationary satellites above. This is precisely what Roskomnadzor referred to, refusing to provide frequencies to the British on July 25, 2019.
This is all clear. But then a logical question arises: why does Russia itself help launch British satellites, which may threaten its national security, into space? The main partner of OneWeb is Roscosmos, which has signed a contract for 21 launches. All space centers - Vostochny, Baikonur and French Kourou will be involved. The state corporation will receive $ 1 billion for its services, but at the same time, authorities refuse their citizens access to broadband Internet anywhere in the country. Why is that?
It is believed that Roscosmos is preparing its "response to Chamberlain," the domestic satellite constellation Sphere. Within its framework, 640 vehicles should be put into orbit. The budget of the program is 299 billion rubles. President Putin on this occasion last year said:
This as a whole can lead to an absolute revolution in the field of communications.
And that's great. But while the project is only at the design stage. The first launch is planned for 2022, and deployment by 2025. At the same time, OneWeb will begin commercial operation in 2020. We all have to wait.
Information