Airbus, OneWeb aim for new satellite era with first launch

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Reuters reported a major shake-up last year at SpaceX's Starlink project, which Chief Executive Musk has said is critical as a funding source for his broader space transportation ambitions but faces challenges on development and testing.

A person with direct knowledge of the program said SpaceX was driving toward a first "production launch" with money-making satellites in mid-2019.

SpaceX already has two test satellites in space and plans to launch a new design based on those "soon," said one SpaceX official, who asked not to be named.

SpaceX has not chosen a location to manufacture the satellites or made a final decision on how it will build, sell and service the terminals that will link the satellite-based internet to users, people with direct knowledge of the project said.

Musk told employees in at least one meeting last year that SpaceX could decide to sell broadband to existing internet providers initially and worry about building out its own Earth infrastructure later, according to a person who attended the meeting.

SpaceX spokeswoman Eva Behrend declined to comment.

A SpaceX official said its initial batch of satellites were currently being manufactured, and its internal launch targets were on track, but the company has not announced a launch date.

The OneWeb project has forced Airbus to rethink the way it builds satellites, overhauling a painstaking, bespoke effort to introduce industrial methods and speed using assembly lines and automation.

The two companies plan to open what they say is the world's first satellite mass-production factory at Florida's Kennedy Space Center in March for $85 million. Production will ramp up to 15 satellites per week at a cost of $1 million per satellite, executives say.

OneWeb Satellites Chief Executive Officer Tony Gingiss told Reuters the goal is to be making two to three satellites a day by early summer.

"That's revolutionary in an industry where it costs $50 million to build one satellite and normally takes months and a team of engineers to do," Gingiss said.

OneWeb has ground stations in Canada, Italy and Norway that allow the satellites to communicate with Earth, and has signed a partnership with Qualcomm to develop the technology that links the internet from space to different users, such as airlines.