TAMPA, Fla. — Eutelsat OneWeb has sold its 50% share of the factory that built more than 600 satellites for its low Earth orbit constellation (LEO) to Airbus, the operator’s joint venture partner.
Airbus said Jan. 29 it is now the sole owner of Airbus OneWeb Satellites (AOS) in Merritt Island, adjacent to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, which it has repurposed for other commercial and government customers.
Financial details were not disclosed.
In its prime, the eight-year-old facility’s semi-automated production line was producing two satellites daily for OneWeb’s first-generation broadband constellation.
The operator fully deployed the network in LEO last year, although global coverage has slipped to later in 2024 following delays with the ground segment.
AOS facilities have since been modified to accommodate Arrow450, a satellite platform based on the 150-kilogram Eutelsat OneWeb spacecraft.
Loft Orbital, a condosat operator based in San Francisco that buys satellite buses from multiple vendors and outfits them with payloads flown on behalf of customers, has ordered more than 30 of them from AOS.
The factory was involved in work for the Blackjack LEO constellation, under a contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, but DARPA downsized the project.
“We will continue mass producing small satellites for our customers and are excited for what the future holds for us on Florida’s Space Coast as we move forward,” said Robert Geckle, chair and CEO of Airbus U.S. Space & Defense.
Eutelsat Group, Eutelsat OneWeb’s parent company that also operates geostationary satellites, said the sale will help efforts to reduce debt.
The operator is currently looking for a manufacturer to build a second-generation LEO constellation it has estimated would cost around $4 billion.
Joanna Darlington, a spokesperson for the operator, told SpaceNews Airbus will continue to be “considered with others as…
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