Starsem and Roscosmos Launch OneWeb #12

Credit: Roscosmos

On Monday, December 27 at 8:10 am ET (14:10 UTC), Roscosmos and Starsem (Roscosmos' partner for commercialization of Soyuz launches) launched the OneWeb #12 mission with 36 OneWeb satellites for OneWeb atop a Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat rocket from Site 31/6 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The flight is numbered ST37 by Starsem. OneWeb is a British satellite internet service (similar to SpaceX's Starlink) designed to provide high-speed internet service globally. The initial constellation consists of 648 satellites launched by 20 Soyuz rockets from three countries, French Guiana, Kazakhstan, and Russia. This was the 71st launch of Soyuz 2.1b and the 140th orbital attempt of 2021.