Airbus to build 900 satellites for OneWeb internet-from-space project
by Reuters in Cape Canaveral from on (#BDH4)
Project partly funded by Richard Branson's Virgin group aims to create global communications network, launching the first of its orbiting fleet in 2018
Airbus will design and build about 900 satellites for privately owned OneWeb, which plans to offer high-speed, space-based internet access to billions of people worldwide, company officials have announced.
About 700 of the satellites, each weighing less than 150 kg (330lb), would be launched into orbit beginning in 2018, with the rest staying on the ground until replacements were needed, said OneWeb, based in Britain's Channel Islands.
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