French satellite operator Eutelsat failed to account for last year's leap year. This resulted in an embarrassing service outage that lasted for up to 48 hours.
OneWeb's satellite constellation has restored internet service after an outage that began on December 31, 2024. Eutelsat Confirmed on Thursday “The root cause was determined to be a software issue in the ground segment,” the company wrote in a short statement. “Constellation has resumed nominal work.”
Joanna Darlington, Eutelsat's head of communications and investor relations, told Via Satellite that a leap year of 2024 “appears to be the most likely cause” for the software glitch. Failure to consider adding another day this year could disrupt the Internet constellation's software. This results in a temporary interruption.
Eutelsat operates more than 630 satellites in low Earth orbit. The company has been building the OneWeb constellation since 2020, launching dozens of satellites designed to beam high-speed internet around the world.
It hasn't been an easy path for Eutelsat. The company originally relied on Russian Soyuz rockets to launch satellites. But the company's relationship with Roscosmos quickly deteriorated after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 in response to Western sanctions imposed on Russia. Rose Cosmos refuses to launch OneWeb satellites unless the company agrees list of requirements– OneWeb rejects the prompt. Russia will keep 36 satellites At a storage facility in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. The company was then forced to rely on rival internet constellations like SpaceX and the Indian Space Research Organization to launch satellites.
However Last batch of 36 satellites launched In March 2023, Eutelsat was unable to provide global broadband coverage due to delays. Ground Infrastructure Approval in key countries such as India, Thailand, and Türkiye. As a result, OneWeb's Internet services are only available in the Americas. and parts of Europe and Asia only The company hopes to resolve the issue this year. The full service will be launched in the spring. Space news–
Compared to SpaceX's Starlink constellation, OneWeb is more focused on Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and other business customers. While Starlink serves end users directly, OneWeb is more of an infrastructure provider than a direct customer service provider.
Utelsat recently order 100 broadband satellites from Airbus will begin the process of updating their constellations over the next few years. The satellite's lifespan will end sometime between 2027 and 2028 after overcoming recent glitches. The company is also keen to ensure it doesn't happen again, so there are no more excuses in 2028.