Russia Threatens to Cancel Satellite Launch Over UK's 'Hostile Position'

On Wednesday, Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos, threatened to cancel an upcoming launch of British OneWeb communication satellites on Russian rockets, which is scheduled to take place at a French spaceport this Saturday, until it receives assurances from France and the United Kingdom that the satellites will only have civilian applications. 

Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin also demanded that the United Kingdom government withdraw its partial ownership and shareholder stake in OneWeb as a condition of the launch, “due to the hostile position of the UK towards Russia,” according to a tweet from Roscosmos.

"Today we are making a request to our French colleagues from Arianespace and OneWeb requiring that they provide us with comprehensive legally binding guarantees within two days that OneWeb will not use the satellites for military purposes and will not provide services to the relevant military departments," Rogozin said on the television channel Russia-24, reports the Russian state-owned news service Tass. 

"If we do not receive confirmation before 21:30 on March 4, the rocket will be removed from the launch and the satellites will be sent to the assembly and test building," he added.

This new move to cancel the launch follows a series of retaliatory moves by Roscosmos in response to Western sanctions and condemnation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Over the past week, Roscosmos has hinted that it will withdraw from its role on the International Space Station after 2024, and Rogozin even implied Russia could crash the station into the United States, Europe, India, or China. 

OneWeb aims to launch hundreds of satellites in the coming years in order to build a global internet broadband service. After a brush with potential bankruptcy, the company was sold to the United Kingdom government and the Indian multinational corporation Bharti Global last year. 

Due to this acquisition, Rogozin expressed concern that OneWeb might support military operations that could disadvantage Russia, similar to the service provided to the American military by the U.S.-based company Starlink, owned by SpaceX, which is also building a global satellite broadband network. Starlink also recently sent its terminals to Ukraine in support of its resistance effort against Russia.

Rogozin added insult to injury in his most recent threat about OneWeb by stating that if Russia had to cancel the upcoming launch, it would not return the payment.

“We received all the money for it for the manufacture of launch vehicles, upper stages, and for the necessary launch services,” Rogozin said. “Due to force majeure circumstances that arose as a result of the aggressive policy of the West and the sanctions that are applied against Russia, this money will remain in Russia."