Russia's space agency on Wednesday demanded legal guarantees from Europe's Arianespace and OneWeb that satellites Moscow is set to launch this year will not be used for military purposes.

Roscosmos also said demanded the British government had to give up its stake in OneWeb, a global satellite communications company, because of "Britain's hostile position on Russia".

The statement from the Russian space agency came as President Vladimir Putin's invasion of pro-Westen Ukraine went into its seventh day. Since then hundreds of Ukrainian civilians including children have been reported as killed.

"We demand exhaustive legally binding guarantees that OneWeb will not use these satellites for military purposes and will not provide these services to relevant military structures," Roscosmos said.

The space agency said the deadline to provide the guarantees was 1830 GMT Friday. Otherwise, it said, the launch of a Soyuz with 36 satellites set for Saturday will be cancelled.

British operator OneWeb has been working to complete the construction of a constellation of low earth orbit satellites to provide enhanced broadband and other services to countries around the planet.

The UK company plans for its global commercial internet service to be operational by next year, supported by some 650 satellites.

Arianespace, which has worked with Russia for close to two decades, is under contract to make 16 Soyuz launches between December 2020 and the end of 2022.

Related Links
Rocket Science News at Space-Travel.Com

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Rocket Lab launches 2nd satellite for the Synspective SAR constellation
Mahia, New Zealand (SPX) Mar 01, 2022
Rocket Lab USA, Inc (Nasdaq: RKLB), a leading launch and space systems company, has successfully deployed a second Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite to orbit for data and solutions provider Synspective, bringing the total number of satellites deployed by Rocket Lab to 110. 'The Owl's Night Continues" mission is Rocket Lab's 24th Electron launch. "The Owl's Night Continues" mission was the first to launch from Rocket Lab's second pad at Launch Complex 1, Pad B, on New Zealand's Mahia Peninsu ... read more