Rocket Lab Awarded Airbus Contract to Power Eutelsat’s Next-Gen OneWeb Constellation
Rocket Lab will provide high efficiency, space grade solar panels for 100 OneWeb LEO satellites.
(Long Beach, California) Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (NASDAQ: RKLB) announced this morning its selection by Airbus Constellation Satellites to provide high efficiency, space grade solar panels for 100 of Eutelsat Group’s (ETL.PA) OneWeb Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites.
Photo courtesy of Airbus.
OneWeb satellites are designed to provide high-speed, low-latency global internet access to remote and underserved areas, per today’s press release from Rocket Lab.
Specifically, Rocket Lab will provide 200 solar panels – including carbon composite panel substrates, solar cells, and photovoltaic assemblies – for the OneWeb satellites. The panels will provide the LEO constellation with approximately 80 kW of power, which is enough to power 16 Hubble-sized space telescopes, according to Rocket Lab.
Airbus Defense and Space was initially awarded a contract by Eutelsat to build an extension of its OneWeb LEO constellation in December of 2024 – the first batches of the extension, totaling 100 satellites, are targeted for delivery from the end of 2026.
Rocket Lab provided more than 450 shipsets of solar array panels to Airbus for their first fleet of OneWeb satellites in 2021.
Brad Clevenger, Vice President of Space Systems at Rocket Lab, said, "We’re thrilled to extend our partnership with Airbus by providing our world-leading space solar panels to power Eutelsat’s next-gen OneWeb constellation. This collaboration will see 100 more satellites equipped with Rocket Lab technology, ensuring dependable, cutting-edge solutions that advance global connectivity."
