French satellite tv for pc operator Eutelsat didn’t account for final yr’s bissextile year, resulting in an embarrassing service outage that lasted for 48 hours.
OneWeb’s satellite tv for pc constellation restored web companies after an outage that started on December 31, 2024, Eutelsat confirmed on Thursday. “The foundation trigger was recognized as a software program subject inside the floor section,” the corporate wrote in a quick assertion. “The constellation is working nominally as soon as once more.”
Joanna Darlington, Eutelsat chief communications and investor relations officer, instructed By way of Satellite tv for pc that the 2024 bissextile year “appears to be the almost definitely trigger” for the software program glitch. Failing to account for a further day this yr seemingly disrupted the web constellation’s software program, ensuing within the short-term disruption.
Eutelsat operates a fleet of greater than 630 satellites in low Earth orbit. The corporate has been constructing its OneWeb constellation since 2020, sending batches of satellites designed to beam high-speed web throughout the globe.
It hasn’t been a straightforward highway for Eutelsat. The corporate initially relied on Russia’s Soyuz rocket to launch its satellites, however its relationship with Roscosmos shortly deteriorated following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. In retaliation in opposition to the Western sanctions imposed in opposition to Russia, Roscosmos refused to launch the OneWeb satellites except the corporate agreed to a list of demands. OneWeb declined, prompting Russia to keep 36 of its satellites at a storage facility in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. The corporate was then pressured to depend on its web constellation rival SpaceX, in addition to the Indian House Analysis Group, to launch its satellites.
Regardless of launching its final batch of 36 satellites in March 2023, Eutelsat couldn’t roll out worldwide broadband protection as a result of delays in securing approval for ground-based infrastructure in key nations like India, Thailand, and Turkey. In consequence, OneWeb’s web companies are at the moment solely out there within the Americas, and a few elements of Europe and Asia. The corporate is hoping to resolve its points this yr, launching its full companies by spring, in keeping with SpaceNews.
In comparison with SpaceX’s Starlink constellation, OneWeb is geared in direction of web service suppliers (ISPs) and different enterprise shoppers. Whereas Starlink companies end-users immediately, OneWeb is extra of an infrastructure supplier fairly than a direct client service.
Eutelsat just lately ordered 100 broadband satellites from Airbus to start the method of updating its constellation in just a few years, with the lifespan of its satellites ending someday between 2027 to 2028. After overcoming its current glitch, the corporate can also be eager to make sure that it doesn’t occur once more, so no extra excuses in 2028.
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