LONDON (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Russia’s demands of the UK to sell its shares in OneWeb, an internet firm, to allow the launch of a satellite have been rejected by the UK.
At the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, a Soyuz rocket carrying 36 OneWeb satellites is on the launchpad.
Roscomos, Russia’s space agency, wanted guarantees that the ship wouldn’t be utilised for military objectives.
It subsequently stated that it would not launch the rocket until the UK surrendered its stake in OneWeb, but this was rejected by Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng.
Mr Kwarteng tweeted, “There is no negotiation on OneWeb: the UK government is not selling its share.”
The UK government is under pressure to cancel the launch due to the conflict in Ukraine and has said it was continuing to address the situation with its OneWeb board members.
OneWeb has made No public statements have been made by OneWeb in recent days, though the BBC believes that this was due to the company’s desire for its workers to be removed from the Baikonur launch site. This has now been accomplished.
With a £400 million stake, the taxpayers of the UK helped OneWeb emerge from bankruptcy in 2020.
Dmitry Rogozin, Roscosmos’ head said in an interview with Russia 24 TV.OneWeb had been contacted by the agency and its partner Arianespace demanding “full legally enforceable guarantees” that the satellites would not be used for military purposes.
“If we do not receive confirmation by 21:30 on March 4,” he continued, “the rocket will be removed from the launch pad and the satellites will be sent to the assembly and test building.”
The launch is presently scheduled for Friday at 22:41 GMT (03:41 local, Saturday).
Mr Rogozin told Russian news agency TASS that the OneWeb contract had been fully paid and that the cash would not be refunded.
“We received all of the funds required for the manufacture of launch vehicles, higher stages, and launch services.
“This money will remain in Russia owing to force majeure conditions that have occurred as a result of the West’s aggressive policies and the sanctions imposed against Russia,” the chief of Roscosmos said.
Later, the space agency’s twitter feed went even farther, asking that the “hostile” UK government sell its stake from the corporation headquartered in London.
Mr Rogozin shared a video of employees at Baikonur’s pad concealing the flags of the United Kingdom, the United States, and Japan from the fairing of Friday’s rocket.
