One year after kickoff, OneWeb says its 700-satellite constellation is on schedule

Peter B. de Selding, SpaceNews:

The volume alone is unprecedented. For example, the 900 satellites will require the production of 15,000 solid-state power amplifiers, more than have been launched in the history of the satellite industry, de Saintignon said. The contracting team will need to glue 540,000 inserts for the honeycomb panels used for the satellite structure. Contractor Sodern will build 1,800 star trackers, two per satellite.

Can anyone figure out how many satellites their constellation will contain? OneWeb’s website says 648, but this article says both 700 and 900.

Either way, the production and launch ramp up needed to hit their targets is incredible. They’re aiming to have the whole constellation in orbit by 2019.

Later in the article, from COO Eric de Saintignon:

“We signed all these to get the full commitment of suppliers. But we are a startup in the sense that the program still has to be funded. We are on the way and we are convinced we will get there.”

One sweetener for OneWeb contractors is that, if the project succeeds as planned, the Florida production facility will position itself as prospective supplier for any satellite system that wants relatively small, inexpensive spacecraft.

That smells like pivot potential to me.