Russia refuses to allocate radio frequencies to OneWeb global satellite internet
The Russian authorities have once again refused to allocate radio frequencies to the developers of the OneWeb global satellite internet project. The State Commission for Radio Frequencies announced its ruling on Monday 29 July. All members of the commission voted against granting frequencies to the project, said Russian Deputy Communications Minister Oleg Ivanov as quoted by the newspaper Kommersant.
The creators of OneWeb have been trying to obtain frequencies in Russia since 2017. Russia’s Federal censorship agency, RosKomNadzor, opposed the project in 2018, claiming that allocating frequencies could interfere with the operation of other space systems.
The Federal Security Service (FSB) is also concerned that OneWeb will threaten Russia’s national security. Dmitry Rogizin, head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, said that his corporation will continue to collaborate with OneWeb’s developers.
The British telecommunications company OneWeb LLC wants to launch into orbit a group of several hundred small satellites to provide high-speed internet and telecommunications access to the entire planet.
In 2015, Russia signed a contract to provide carrier rockets for OneWeb’s satellites between 2017 and 2019. The launches will be done from three cosmodromes: Baikonur, Vostochny and Kourou. The British company plans to put more than 600 satellite into orbit by 2021.