UK government shakes magic money tree, finds $500m to buy a stake in struggling satellite firm OneWeb
- Reference: 1593788412
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/07/03/uk_buys_oneweb/
- Source link:
OneWeb, which filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this year, has been the subject of speculation in recent weeks as bidders circled. A consortium led by the UK government, which included another $500m from Indian outift Bharti Global, has won the day and snapped up the UK-based company.
Bharti is a major player in the mobile operator world, and lays claim to 425 million customers. The telco will "provide the company with commercial and operational leadership" while the UK enjoys bragging rights over its "own" (currently incomplete) satellite constellation.
One does not simply repurpose an entire internet constellation for sat-nav, but UK might have a go anyway [2]READ MORE
The deal will allow OneWeb to finish construction of its fleet, which currently stands at 74 satellites (including six test satellites). Approximately 600 satellites (with some spares) will be needed for global coverage, and the company put in a request with the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to increase the satellite count to 48,000 "to meet soaring global connectivity demands".
While the OneWeb satellites are constructed in Florida and the next batch will ride a Russia-built Soyuz to orbit, UK business secretary Alok Sharma heralded the deal as an example of Blighty's ambitions, saying: "Our access to a global fleet of satellites has the potential to connect millions of people worldwide to broadband, many for the first time, and the deal presents the opportunity to further develop our strong advanced manufacturing base right here in the UK."
You want the birds for broadband, right? Right?
Certainly, using the constellation for broadband provision would make sense (particularly for those UK households unable to get decent speeds). It is, after all, what it was designed to do.
However, UK government also noted "other services" alongside the enhanced broadband, which raises once again the spectre of the Galileo satellite navigation project, the UK will be [3]excluded from the "sensitive" secure bits of the project following its departure from the EU.
While at first glance, trying to force a mega-constellation of communication satellites in Low Earth Orbit to perform the positioning duties of a few purpose-built spacecraft in higher orbits may seem risky, it could be made to work.
UK-based Catapult Satellite Applications was unsurprisingly [4]bullish about the concept , noting it reckoned that "even without modification, the existing OneWeb satellites could provide a highly accurate timing service," essential for navigation purposes. It also pointed out that OneWeb signals are considerably more powerful than those of "conventional navigation services".
The idea of using a broadband internet constellation is not new. Boffins at the Stanford University GPS Lab put forward a [5]presentation in 2016 [PDF] detailing how such a system might work and noted benefits deriving from the sheer number of the things.
The problem is that the technology needed to repurpose the satellites is unproven when compared to that used by the likes of GPS and Galileo. To get close to the precision needed for navigational applications (and the encryption demanded by the military), new ground hardware will be needed and it is hard to see how one could avoid fiddling with the payload on future spacecraft.
As such, the $500m being spent could be regarded as a gamble should the UK seek to use OneWeb for navigation purposes, although a smaller one than the billions needed for the UK to create its own Galileo clone.
And for those worried that another Galileo might be in the offing should the consortium turn sour: "The UK government will have a final say over any future sale of the company, and over future access to OneWeb technology by other countries on national security grounds." So there. ®
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[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-government-to-acquire-cutting-edge-satellite-network
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2020/06/30/oneweb_bs/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2020/02/05/galileo_uk_clause/
[4] https://sa.catapult.org.uk/news/oneweb-the-opportunity-for-the-uk/#
[5] http://web.stanford.edu/group/scpnt/gpslab/website_files/LEO_sat_nav/ION_GNSS_2016_LEO_Navigation_Reid.pdf
[6] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Hmm.
Think of how much time and trouble you’ll save. Now HMGov won’t have to go to the trouble of warrants or even just leaning on the ISP, they’ll have everything they need right in front of them. You’re a meanie for wanting poor innocent civil servants to actually work for a living. Bad suspect. No cookie.
Re: Hmm.
No reason why you shouldn't run a VPN over the link. I assume you already do that over your phone line broadband if you're concerned that GCHQ is listening.
Re: Hmm.
Have they not yet made VPNs illegal? Because, you know, criminal bad criminal foreign people, use them, right?
Re: Hmm.
Too late for that now that so many people are using company VPNs to work from home. They could ban them and then pay for the resulting unemployment but I doubt that will happen.
Re: Hmm.
I'm sure it will be possible (at least in what passes for their minds) to mandate that only VPNs which have suitably backdoored encryption will be allowed. And when the keys leak and someone compromises all the banks and takes down the financial system, why, that won't be anything to do with them, it will be the filthy criminals fault.
Dominic Cummings The UK government: not even the smartest people in an empty room.
Re: Hmm.
Sorry to tell you this, but there is no such thing as a "backdoor".
Only weakened encryption. Go read and learn.
Cheers… Ishy
For something one must have.... or for something some think no one should really have?
Crikey, half a billion smackers conjured out of the ether, just like that. Who do you talk to to get a relatively fair share of that sort of largesse? Or do they come to you with an attractive offer it would be ungracious to deny and refuse?
Inquiring minds would like to know if there are any sort of prime or sub-prime rules in play for those who think there be rules to be followed? :-)
Re: For something one must have.... or for something some think no one should really have?
I'll raise the $500m you're printing with the $600m I'm printing.
Just what we need
A LOCAL GPS for LOCAL people
While we are at it let's bring back British Leyland, that world beating engineering company.
Re: Just what we need
I have a Leyland Roadrunner horsebox for sale on eBay and Facebook if you're interested. 1990 model and it still starts first time. Cabs a bit rusty though.
Re: Just what we need
Ok, I don't have a horse but best of luck with the sale.
It Could Be Made to Work ???
Just for clarification, the article states :
"While at first glance, trying to force a mega-constellation of communication satellites in Low Earth Orbit to perform the positioning duties of a few purpose-built spacecraft in higher orbits may seem risky, it could be made to work."
Who is stating it could be made to work - is it the UK Government, or someone with the technical aptitude who has made a comment somewhere ???
To me, $500m is a lot of money to speculate upon for something that "could be made to work".
Re: It Could Be Made to Work ???
To me, $500m is a lot of money to speculate upon for something that "could be made to work".
May I inquire about the status of the procured F35's vis-a-vis the Lizzie? And their combined cost?
Re: It Could Be Made to Work ???
I find it hard to see how it could possibly be made to work. For a start: don't all GPS spacecraft carry an atomic clock? None of those launched so far have one, surely. And you would need to make a system that was extremely similar to GPS (as the Glonass and the new Chinese ones are) and use an adjacent waveband, otherwise existing chips in GPS receivers and mobile phones around the world simply won't work on them. And then you need a set of ground stations to track their position and upload the orbital data to them at quite frequent intervals. With a couple of dozen spacecraft in highish orbits that's feasible, though surely not cheap to do. With a vast number of low-earth orbit spacecraft that will surely just not be doable at any reasonable cost. Or have I missed something?
Re: It Could Be Made to Work ???
It appears to be important to know exactly what is meant by "It can be made to work". I've been poking around reading various articles and papers as I think up new keywords to look for. Best paper I've found so far involved using the Iridium satellites and suggested a likely accuracy (CEP) of around 10km, with various post-processing (which seemed to be mostly a case of waiting a while to collect more data) that could be reduced to around 400m. So yes, it can be made to work, but...
Re: It Could Be Made to Work ???
I think the big problem is LEO satellites have rapidly degrading orbits and are expected to fall out of the sky more often, which means they need replacing more often. Which gets quite expensive if you can't charge for their use with broadband…
Not the solution
Certainly, using the constellation for broadband provision would make sense (particularly for those UK households unable to get decent speeds). It is, after all, what it was designed to do.
Given how tiny the UK is, you could easily provide the same service with a few of Google's dirigibles. Satellites are designed for covering large areas of the earth with their signals.
Oh, hang on. Is that the 19:21 Gravy Train? I have to catch that one! If you fine it, mine's the one with "A Short History of Barnard Castle" in the pocket but you can keep that.
We got Brexit dumb
Darn auto-correct - is this just an example of the direction that we're heading in?
Will it work or will it not? Too early to tell really but it would be interesting to see how many government ministers and advisors currently hold shares in the enterprises.
Hmm.
I'm not sure I wish to get my broadband connection from the government(*).
(*) British understatement.