OneWeb to merge with Eutelsat, needs five more launches to complete network

OneWeb与Eutelsat需要五次以上的上市才能完成网络合并

OneWeb and Eutelsat announced plans to merge Tuesday, bringing together OneWeb’s network of internet satellites in low Earth orbit with Eutelsat’s fleet of larger video, data relay, and broadband platforms in geostationary orbit.

OneWeb与Eutelsat周二宣布了合并计划，将OneWeb在低地球轨道上的互联网卫星网络与Eutelsat在地球静止轨道的超大视频、数据中继和宽带平台舰队合并至一起。

OneWeb’s chairman also said Tuesday the company is on track to resume deploying its remaining internet satellites as soon as September, with three SpaceX flights and two Indian launches on tap to replace Russian Soyuz rockets no longer available after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

此外，周二时，OneWeb的董事长说，该公司有望最早于9月恢复剩余的互联网卫星部署工作，SpaceX将进行三次飞行，印度将进行两次发射，以取代俄罗斯入侵乌克兰后不再可用的俄罗斯联盟号火箭。

The merger of OneWeb and Eutelsat is a major consolidation in the commercial satellite communications market.

OneWeb和Eutelsat的合并是商业卫星通信市场的一次重大合并。

Founded in 2012, OneWeb is a relatively new player in the segment, and has launched 428 of its planned 648 first-generation internet satellites into low Earth orbit, or LEO, at an altitude of around 745 miles (1,200 kilometers). OneWeb operates one of the two large satellite “mega-constellations” currently active in low Earth orbit, alongside the even larger fleet of SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellites, which now numbers around 2,700 spacecraft in orbit, either in service or maneuvering toward their operational altitudes.

OneWeb成立于2012年，是该领域相对较新的参与者，已将其计划中的648颗第一代互联网卫星中的428颗发射到低地球轨道（LEO），高度约为745英里（1200公里）。OneWeb运营着目前活跃在低地球轨道上的两个大型卫星“巨型星座”之一，以及SpaceX的Starlink互联网卫星的更大舰队，目前在轨道上的航天器数量约为2700艘，无论是在服务中还是在向其操作高度移动。

OneWeb weathered bankruptcy in 2020, and emerged under the majority ownership of Bharti Global, an Indian telecom company, and the UK government.

OneWeb在2020年经历了破产，并以印度电信公司Bharti Global和英国政府的多数股权出现。

Eutelsat, which already holds a 23% stake in OneWeb, was established in 1977 as a European intergovernmental organization, and became a commercial company in 2001. Eutelsat has a fleet of 36 spacecraft flying in geostationary orbit, or GEO, more than 22,000 miles (nearly 36,000 kilometers) over the equator. GEO satellites are typically bigger and more powerful than LEO broadband satellites, providing services to more customers over a fixed geographic region. But they come with coverage limitations over the poles, and their connections come with higher latency, or lag, than LEO constellations.

欧洲通信卫星组织（Eutelsat）于1977年作为一个欧洲政府间组织成立，并于2001年成为一家商业公司。该组织已持有OneWeb 23%的股份。该组织拥有36架航天器，在赤道上空飞行22000多英里（近36000公里）。GEO卫星通常比LEO宽带卫星更大、更强大，在固定的地理区域内为更多的客户提供服务。但它们在极点的覆盖范围有限，它们的连接比狮子座的延迟或延迟更高。

OneWeb’s business is focused on providing high-speed, low-latency internet services to customers around the world, connecting homes, businesses, schools, airplanes, and ships. Eutelsat’s satellites are primarily focused on traditional video and data services, with some overlap with OneWeb in the internet market.

OneWeb的业务重点是为世界各地的客户提供高速、低延迟的互联网服务，连接家庭、企业、学校、飞机和船只。欧洲通信卫星组织的卫星主要专注于传统的视频和数据服务，在互联网市场上与OneWeb有些重叠。

The merger is one between equals, OneWeb and Eutelsat officials said, with shareholders in each enterprise holding 50% of the combined company once the transaction closes, which is expected by the end of the first half of 2023. The boards of directors of both companies unanimously approved the memorandum of understanding announced Tuesday, but the deal still must pass regulatory approval and win the support of shareholders.

OneWeb和Eutelsat的官员表示，合并是平等的，一旦交易完成，两家公司的股东将持有合并后公司的50%股份，预计将在2023年上半年结束。两家公司的董事会一致批准了周二宣布的谅解备忘录，但该交易仍必须通过监管部门的批准，并赢得股东的支持。

Eutelsat and OneWeb will continue operating under their current names, with Eutelsat remaining headquartered in Paris and OneWeb in London. The agreement sets a valuation of $3.4 billion for OneWeb.

欧洲通信卫星组织和OneWeb将继续以现有名称运营，欧洲通信卫星公司的总部仍在巴黎，而OneWeb则在伦敦。该协议为OneWeb设定了34亿美元的估值。

The companies said their operations are “highly complementary” and the merger presents opportunities to develop a common platform for their LEO and GEO services, with hybrid user terminals and interconnected network creating a “one-stop shop” for customers.

两家公司表示，它们的运营具有“高度互补性”，此次合并为它们的低地球轨道和地球同步轨道服务提供了开发共同平台的机会，混合用户终端和互联网络为客户创造了“一站式服务”。

“This is truly a first in our industry,” said Dominique D’Hinnin, chairman of Eutelsat. “We will be the only integrated GEO/LEO player around the world.”

这确实是我们行业的第一次，”欧洲通信卫星组织主席多米尼克·德希宁说。“我们将成为全球唯一一家综合性的GEO/LEO玩家。”

“The compelling economics and high throughput of GEO, combined with low latency and ubiquity of LEO constellations, will meet a much wider range of customer requirements,” said Eva Berneke, CEO of Eutelsat, in a teleconference with reporters.

欧洲通信卫星组织（Eutelsat）首席执行官伊娃·伯内克（Eva Berneke）在与记者的电话会议上说：“地球观测卫星组织引人注目的经济性和高通量，加上低地球轨道星座的低延迟和无处不在，将满足更广泛的客户需求。”。

SES, another large operator of geostationary communications satellites, has shunned developing its own LEO broadband constellation in favor of a fleet of internet satellites in Medium Earth Orbit about 5,000 miles (8,000 kilometers) above Earth. According to SES, the O3b constellation in MEO combines the high-throughput benefit of geostationary satellites with the lower latency offered by lower-altitude satellites.

另一家大型地球同步通信卫星运营商SES避免开发自己的低地球轨道宽带星座，而是选择在中地球轨道上的互联网卫星群，距离地球约5000英里（8000公里）。SES称，MEO中的O3b星座将地球静止卫星的高通量优势与低空卫星提供的较低延迟结合起来。

While OneWeb still has about 220 satellites to launch before completing its first-generation network, the company is already planning an even larger constellation called Gen 2. OneWeb announced an agreement with Relativity Space last month for multiple Gen 2 satellite launches beginning as soon as 2025 on the launch company’s next-generation reusable Terran R rocket.

虽然OneWeb在完成其第一代网络之前仍有约220颗卫星要发射，但该公司已经在规划一个更大的称为第二代的星座。OneWeb上个月宣布与相对论空间公司达成协议，最早从2025年开始，发射该公司的下一代可重复使用的人族R火箭。

Eutelsat’s resources will now help OneWeb finance its Gen 2 constellation. OneWeb’s other current shareholders include Bharti, the UK government, and the Japanese company Softbank, among others.

欧洲通信卫星组织的资源现在将帮助OneWeb为其第二代星座提供资金。OneWeb的其他现有股东包括Bharti、英国政府和日本软银公司等。

“Having made a $500 million investment in OneWeb two years ago, the UK government will now have a significant stake in what will become a single, powerful, global space company, working on the sound financial footing needed to make the most of the technological advantages it has to compete in the highly-competitive global satellite industry, against companies around the world,” said the UK’s Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy.

“两年前，英国政府对OneWeb进行了5亿美元的投资，现在将成为一家单一、强大的全球航天公司，英国政府将在这家公司中拥有重要的股份，该公司将在良好的财务基础上开展工作，以充分利用其在竞争激烈的全球卫星行业中所拥有的技术优势，与世界各地的公司进行竞争，”该公司表示英国商业、能源和工业战略部。

The UK government said it will retain its “special share” and “exclusive rights” over OneWeb in areas such as national security usage of the network and “first-preference” rights for industrial opportunities.

英国政府表示，将在国家安全、网络使用和工业机会“第一优先权”等领域保留对OneWeb的“特殊份额”和“专有权”。

The UK government will retain the special share and its exclusive rights over OneWeb – securing the company’s future at the centre of the combined group’s global LEO business, national security co over the network, and first-preference rights over domestic industrial opportunities.

英国政府将保留OneWeb的特别股份及其专有权，以确保该公司在合并后集团全球LEO业务、网络上的国家安全公司以及国内产业机会的第一优先权的中心地位。

Sunil Bharti Mittal, OneWeb’s executive chairman, said the company will give preference to a UK location for the factory for its Gen 2 broadband satellites. The first-generation OneWeb satellites are built in a factory near the Kennedy Space Center in Florida through a joint venture with Airbus.

OneWeb执行主席苏尼尔·巴蒂·米塔尔（Sunil Bharti Mittal）表示，公司将优先考虑在英国为其第二代宽带卫星建造工厂。第一代OneWeb卫星是通过与空中客车公司的合资企业在佛罗里达州肯尼迪航天中心附近的一家工厂制造的。

Mittal said most of the 220 remaining satellites to complete the first-generation network have completed manufacturing Florida. The Florida factory can now be used to produce satellites for other customers.

米塔尔说，完成第一代网络的剩余220颗卫星中的大部分已经在佛罗里达州完成制造。佛罗里达的工厂现在可以用来为其他客户生产卫星。

OneWeb launched its first 428 satellites on 13 Russian-made Soyuz rockets from February 2019 through February of the year. The Soyuz missions were booked through Arianespace, the French launch service provider with rights to market and manage commercial Soyuz launches.

OneWeb在2019年2月至当年2月期间，用13枚俄制联盟号火箭发射了首批428颗卫星。联盟号的任务是通过法国发射服务提供商阿丽亚娜航天公司预订的，阿丽亚娜航天公司有权销售和管理联盟号的商业发射。

Arianespace was on the hook with OneWeb for six more Soyuz launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, including a 14th launch that was set to take off in March. But Russia’s space agency set conditions on the mission after rolling the rocket and the OneWeb satellites to a launch pad at Baikonur, including a demand that the UK government give up its stake in OneWeb.

阿丽亚娜航天公司与OneWeb公司在哈萨克斯坦的拜科努尔航天发射场又进行了6次联盟号发射，其中包括定于3月发射的第14次发射。但俄罗斯航天局在将火箭和OneWeb卫星发射到拜科努尔的一个发射台后，为这次任务设定了条件，其中包括要求英国政府放弃其在OneWeb的股份。

The UK government declined, and OneWeb announced March 3 it was suspending launches from Baikonur. Less than a month later, OneWeb announced an agreement with SpaceX to launch some of its remaining satellites. OneWeb finalized a similar agreement with New Space India Limited, the commercial arm of India’s space agency, for launches on Indian rockets.

英国政府拒绝了，OneWeb于3月3日宣布暂停从拜科努尔发射。不到一个月后，OneWeb宣布与SpaceX达成协议，将发射其剩余的部分卫星。OneWeb与印度航天局的商业部门新空间印度有限公司（New Space India Limited）达成了一项类似的协议，将在印度火箭上发射。

The contract with SpaceX was surprising to many satellite industry watchers because OneWeb is an indirect competitor in broadband market. SpaceX sells Starlink service directly to consumers, while OneWeb sells to enterprises and internet service providers to provide connectivity for entire businesses or communities.

与SpaceX的合同让许多卫星行业观察人士感到惊讶，因为OneWeb是宽带市场的间接竞争对手。SpaceX直接向消费者销售Starlink服务，而OneWeb则向企业和互联网服务提供商销售，为整个企业或社区提供连接。

Mittal said OneWeb was “very fortunate” to recover from the launch setback earlier this year, with plans to resume launches later this year. There are three Falcon 9 flights planned for OneWeb into polar orbit from Cape Canaveral — a short drive from OneWeb’s factory — in late 2022 and early 2023. OneWeb has procured two launches on India’s GSLV Mk.3 rocket.

米塔尔表示，OneWeb“非常幸运”从今年早些时候的发射挫折中恢复过来，计划在今年晚些时候恢复发射。OneWeb计划在2022年底和2023年初从卡纳维拉尔角（距离OneWeb的工厂很短的车程）进入极地轨道，进行三次猎鹰9号飞行。OneWeb已经购买了印度GSLV Mk.3火箭的两次发射。

The three Falcon 9 flights will be equivalent o the launch capacity of four Soyuz rockets, which carried as many as 36 OneWeb satellites on each flight. That would mean SpaceX will launch around 48 OneWeb spacecraft on each mission, although the exact figures haven’t been confirmed.

猎鹰9号的三次飞行将相当于四枚联盟号火箭的发射能力，每一次飞行可携带多达36颗OneWeb卫星。这将意味着SpaceX将在每次任务中发射大约48个OneWeb航天器，尽管确切数字尚未得到证实。

The five additional launches should be complete by next March, with all the satellites entering commercial service by the end of 2023, Mittal said.

米塔尔说，额外的五次发射应在明年3月前完成，所有卫星将在2023年底前进入商业服务。

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