Starlink & OneWeb: Two Different Concepts

There are only two companies at the moment providing internet globally through low Earth orbit satellite constellations – Starlink and OneWeb – even though both have different concepts. OneWeb, a subsidiary of French-owned Eutelsat, completed its constellation of 648 satellites (and 6 trial satellites) in low Earth orbit in 2024, according to the website N2yo.com. By comparison, Starlink internet services rely on a web of more than 10,000 satellites at the moment, aiming for 15,000 or even more. OneWeb's satellites, however, circle Earth in a somewhat higher orbit but can integrate geostationary satellites as well. This allows the company to cover a larger area per satellite than its U.S. competitor, but also causes a small loss in latency, which is the speed at with data travels between the satellite and the receiver.

Andreas Knopp, professor of information processing at the Bundeswehr University Munich, pointed out to German newspaper Handelsblatt that OneWeb not only has significantly fewer and higher satellites in Earth's orbit, but these were also outdated. "Therefore, Eutelsat can only provide limited assistance with time-critical satellite connections." Knopp said. This makes a difference for example, in combat situations where internet connections are needed. OneWeb was therefor not deemed a suitable substitute for Ukrainian front line forces, which have been relying on Starlink provided free of charge by SpaceX.

More satellite constellations for internet services are currently in their early stages of deployment, for example Chinese projects Qianfan and Xingwang as well as Amazon's Kuiper.