Moscow. Russia threatened to stop sending satellites from the operator OneWeb and demanded that the British government withdraw from the project, as well as guarantees that it is not being used for military purposes, in the midst of a Russian military incursion into Ukraine.
A Soyuz rocket, operated by OneWeb and Arianespace, is scheduled to take off on March 5 from the Russian Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, with 36 satellites. These must be added to the 428 that are in orbit to offer high-speed Internet to the whole world.
But the Russian agency Roscosmos, which controls the cosmodrome, issued an ultimatum to London after massive financial sanctions were ordered against Russia in the wake of the attack on Ukraine.
“Given the hostile attitude of the United Kingdom towards Russia, another condition for sending devices on March 5 is that the British government ceases to be a shareholder in OneWeb,” Roscosmos said.
The British government is the majority shareholder of that company (it owns 42.2 percent) together with the Indian Bharti, according to Roscosmos.
Likewise, Moscow requires “binding legal guarantees that OneWeb does not use these satellites for military purposes or propose these services to military structures,” the Russian space agency added.
Roscosmos urged London to accept that ultimatum before tomorrow. If it does not, “the rocket will be removed from the exit, but this will not have significant economic consequences” for the Russian space sector.
According to Roscosmos, OneWeb has no other “short-term” way to send its satellites into space, apart from Soyuz rockets.
Russia will treat any computer attack on its satellites as a justification for war, the head of that country’s space agency said in a press release.
Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin denied media reports that Russian satellite control centers have already been targeted by cyberattacks amid the invasion of Ukraine, and warned against any attempts to do so, the Interfax agency reported.
“Disconnecting the satellites of any country is actually a cause of war,” Interfax was quoted as saying by Rogozin, adding that his agency wanted OneWeb to provide guarantees that its satellites would not be used against Russia, Interfax added.
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