Page 90 - SAMENA Trends - June-July 2020

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UK Government Enters Bidding War for Stake in OneWeb

The British government is expected yet to be formally accepted. Francis Elliott, York, has filed a notice with the district’s
to bid £500 million to buy a stake in political editor of The Times, has written: bankruptcy court reminding federal
OneWeb, which filed for bankruptcy in “Although the government technically regulators could block any transaction
March. Having left the EU, the UK forfeited is making a bid for the stake, British if “it raises national security concerns.”
eligibility for membership in Galileo, an officials said the transaction was at ‘a very Though OneWeb is currently owned by
innovative global navigation satellite advanced stage’.” Elliott did not name the non-US companies including SoftBank,
system (GNSS) which would allow for a officials. At present the potential bidders Airbus, Virgin Group and Bharti Airtel, and
superior alternative to American GPS. A for the other 80 percent of OneWeb are not its satellite license is from the UK, there
sovereign satellite system was discussed yet known, although several Chinese firms are those in the US unwilling to lose the
as an alternative predicted to have cost up appear to be interested. However, the bid company. OneWeb has so far launched
to £5bn, although with a hand in OneWeb, could see some friction as a result of the 74 of its planned 650 satellites to support
GNSS independence could be achieved for US Department of Justice (DoJ) which has a system of global broadband via LEO,
a lot less. If successful, the UK expects a expressed concerns over OneWeb’s sale to originally thought to have been orbited by
20 percent share of the company as part a non-US entity. Audrey Strauss, acting US the end of 2021.
of a private sector consortium, which is attorney for the southern district of New

China Launches Final Satellite of BeiDou Navigation System Into Space

China has launched the last satellite bandwidth, and enhanced communication Construction of the BDS-3 primary system
in its BeiDou navigation system from capability and carry more stable atomic was also completed during the same year.
the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in clocks, which in turn helps in improving In May 2019, China launched a new satellite
Sichuan Province. This launch means that the exactness of timing and navigation of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System
China will no longer have to depend on the services, according to the report. The first from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center
global positioning system (GPS) owned by BeiDou satellite was launched into orbit in Sichuan Province using a Long March-
the US government. The $10bn BeiDou-3 in 2000 and began offering navigation, 3C carrier rocket to broadcast positioning
navigation system network comprises positioning, timing and messaging and timing signals around the world this
35 satellites and offers global navigation services in China and the Asia-Pacific year. The launch involved the fourth BDS-2
coverage. This launch was slated for last towards the end of 2012. In 2018, the BDS backup satellite and 45th unit of the BDS
week but was postponed due to detected system began offering global services. satellite family.
technical problems with the rocket during
the pre-launch tests. The Beidou-3
Navigation Satellite System (BDS) provides
an alternative to Russia’s GLONASS, the
European Galileo systems, and the US’
GPS. Among the future plans include
supporting a more integrated system that
is slated to come online by 2035, with at
the core being BDS. Considered to be the
55th BDS system, the latest GEO satellite
will work with other members in the
network, thereby enabling users across
the world to gain access to high-accuracy
navigation, positioning, timing and
communication services, reported Global
Times. Unlike the earlier generation series,
the BDS-3 constellation with a line-up of
30 satellites flies on three orbit planes.
Three operate at the GEO while three
operate at geosynchronous orbits, and 24
at medium-Earth orbit. They offer higher

90 JUNE-JULY 2020