HISTORY – The British state, 17% shareholder in the constellation, refuses to submit to the blackmail of Russia, which insists on its withdrawal from the capital, to launch satellites.
The situation is surreal. Russia’s Soyuz rocket is docked at its launch site in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, with 36 OneWeb satellites on board, held hostage by Russia. Except for the last-minute miracle, the rocket will not take off on the night of March 4-5, as originally planned. This is a sad first: international space cooperation has always been neutral, protected from geopolitical tensions.
Despite the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the launch campaign was also conducted as if nothing had happened. The 36 satellites arrived in Baikonur in a Antonov cargo plane on February 15th, after which they were prepared before being integrated under the Union fairing earlier this week. Teams from Arianespace (which trades Soyuz internationally) were available, as always, to prepare for this type of launch.
Triple effects
But this kind of normalcy was shattered on Wednesday, overwhelmed by the consequences …
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