OneWeb is bankrupt -- who will buy their assets?

One could argue that a global ISP should not be owned by a single nation or a corporation.

OneWeb has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. OneWeb CEO Adrian Steckel stated that they were "close to obtaining financing" but failed as a "consequence of the economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis." That is plausible, but they were also far behind SpaceX Starlink in launch cost and capacity. (SpaceX, remains open as an essential industry working on defense contracts, but two employees have tested positive for COVID-19) and financial analyst Tim Farrar said SpaceX faced a "near-term cash problem" even before the pandemic).

OneWeb has valuable assets -- satellites in orbit, ground stations, flat panel antenna, progressive pitch, debris mitigation and other technologies, engineering and manufacturing experience, patents, a satellite factory, supply chains, memoranda of understanding with nations, spectrum, marketing deals, and other partnerships, etc. Who will acquire those assets?

Amazon comes immediately to mind as a potential buyer. Amazon is a relatively recent entry in the LEO constellation broadband race, which leaves it far behind SpaceX, and it is first and foremost an an infrastructure company. CEO Jeff Bezos has a lifelong interest in space and owns satellite-launch and ground-station service companies. He could also fund the purchase himself.

While Amazon is perhaps most likely to acquire the OneWeb's assets, there are others. China is home to three LEO broadband startups that are also late to the LEO broadband race and have a ready funding source. Facebook might also be interested if they are seriously considering satellite broadband, .

Twitter user @megaconstellati has suggested that a government -- the US, UK or France -- might take over OneWeb. With its new Space Force and interest in lEO constellations, the US could consider taking over OneWeb, but that would not seem likely to appeal to a relatively anti-government administration. The same goes for the UK.

Not that it's likely to happen, but one could argue that a global ISP should not be owned by a single nation or corporation -- it should be a global asset -- just as coronavirus and climate change are global liabilities. Those liabilities remind us that we live on a "pale blue dot.

Update 6/16/2020

If no company buys OneWeb by June 26th, their assets will be auctioned off on July 2nd. Last month Chris Forrester wrote that two Chinese companies were considering bids. He's updated that saying four Chinese companies are now interested and the Amazon, SpaceX and Eutelsat bids are less likely. We'll know how it turns out soon.

Update July 4, 2020

A consortium of the British government and Bharti Global limited was the winning bidder in the OneWeb auction. They bid over $1 billion to fund the full restart of OneWeb's business. The agreement remains subject to approval by OneWeb’s creditors, the Bankruptcy Court, and applicable regulators, with completion expected by the fourth quarter of 2020.

Bharti, through Bharti Airtel, is the third-largest mobile operator in the world, with over 425 million customers and a strong presence across South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. If successful, the project will bring fixed broadband to those and other customers. The British government hopes it can use the constellation for global positioning and timing since it lost access to the European Union global navigation satellite system as a result of Brexit and it will provide connectivity in rural areas and a presence in the space industry.

The U. S. government could possibly challenge the sale since OneWeb has significant manufacturing assets in Florida and the Treasury Department Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States is authorized "to review transactions that could result in control of a U.S. business by a foreign person (“covered transactions”), in order to determine the effect of such transactions on the national security of the United States." I'd like to listen in on the call when Trump and Boris Johnson discuss that possibility!

Geely's LEO constellation for mobile vehicle connectivity

It will be interesting to watch the mobile vehicle solutions and competition between Geely and Tesla/Starlink.

The Geely Holding Group (GHG) is a private Chinese conglomerate that is highly diversified, but best known as an auto manufacturer that envisions itself as a "global mobile technology group." GHG announced this week that it has begun construction of an intelligent satellite production and testing facility that will include modular satellite manufacturing, satellite testing, satellite R&D, and cloud computing centers.

They will be capable of producing a variety of different satellite models, but the immediate goal is to produce satellites for a constellation of LEO satellites capable of offering low-latency internet connectivity plus cloud and edge computing to support in-vehicle entertainment, navigation, over-the-air software updates, and level 4 and later level 5 (full automation) autonomous vehicles. (For a summary of the definitions of SAE's six levels (0-5) of vehicle autonomy, click here and for a detailed definition click here). Note that in addition to car companies, GHG has interests in trucking, high-speed trains, and even passenger drones.

Reuters reported that GHG is investing $326 million in the project, aims to make 500 satellites a year by 2025, and will begin launching satellites this year. Geely, sold 2.18 million cars last year and will be adding satellite functionality to their cars as well as those of other GHC companies, including Volvo and Daimler.

The illustration on the GHG press release shows a CubeSat, so they are evidently not interested in competing with SpaceX and other would-be broadband ISPs, at least for now. (Three other Chinese companies are working on LEO broadband constellations). Regardless, they will compete with broadband LEO satellite providers for mobile vehicle applications and it will be interesting to watch the mobile vehicle solutions of and competition between Geely and Tesla/Starlink.

Update 2/2/2021

Geely has officially launched its internet satellite project in Qingdao, East China's Shandong Province, with an investment of 4.12 billion yuan ($637 million). The project is located in the Qingdao Shanghai demonstration zone, which is the location of other projects in support of the Belt and Road Initiative. I assume that being within the demonstration zone means they are receiving some subsidy -- perhaps free land or tax breaks like states and cities often give to attract business in the US. (Remember the Amazon headquarters bidding war a couple years ago)? For an explanation of the somewhat opaque system of local government, national government, and private financing of Chinese space ventures, listen to or read the transcript of this podcast interview with China space expert Blaine Curcio.

Update 1/6/2022

On December 14, an Expace rocket carrying Geely's test satellites, Geesats A and B failed. While this was a setback, Curcio reported several positive developments as well. Geely's highly automated satellite manufacturing factory will make 500 satellites per year and they have been aggressively hiring people with extensive satellite design and manufacturing experience, including at least ten experts who have worked on the third-generation Beido positioning, navigation, and timing service. 

Geely is also well-positioned politically. GHG Chairman Li Shufu is a member of the National People's Congress and is rumored to be a friend or close associate of Xi Jinping who spent five years as governor of GHG's home province. Li came from a humble family and the “Geely Common Prosperity Initiative” is clearly in line with Xi's drive for common prosperity.

For background on GHG and Li and his view of the future of mobile vehicles -- cars, ships, trucks, etc. -- see this Reuters report.

Update 8/23/2022

GeeSpace launched nine satellites and they are all performing correctly. They are the first of 72 phase-one satellites that are expected to be in orbit by 2025. The second 168 satellites will then be launched, bringing the constellation up to 240 satellites.

Update March 2, 2024

Geely launched eleven satellites in the same 50-degree inclination plane as the first nine, but there was a considerable delay between the two launches. The first nine were launched in June 2022 and the second 11 were launched in February 2024. The delay may have been caused by a satellite re-design -- The mass of these satellites is 130 kg whereas the first nine satellites had masses of 100 kg.

The launch cadence will have to speed up if they are to reach their goal of beginning service with 72  satellites next year.

Update July 6, 2024

This update is based on a recent GeeSpace discussion in Blaine Curcio's excellent China Space Monitor.

Curcio begins with background on Geely and founder Li Shufu and his ambitious (Musk-like) plans for GeeSpace, which was initiated about six years ago when Li “floated his idea of using hundreds of proprietary mini, low-orbit satellites as a more accurate global positioning system for self-driving cars”

The company plans to provide “global real-time data communication services” once the 72-satellite first-phase constellation is completed next year and “global centimeter-level positioning services” when the 168 second-phase satellites are in orbit. GeeSpace envisions surveillance, urban planning, infrastructure management, and other applications as well as automotive autonomous vehicle support and the eleven satellites launched in February had "artificial intelligence" remote sensing capabilities, with a resolution ranging from 3.2 to 16.4 feet 

Geely brands sold 2.79 million units in 2023 and Curcio concludes that "Within 5-10 years, GeeSpace could conceivably have a constellation of satellites connecting all Geely cars in a very interesting example of vertical integration (actual use cases pending)."