The fall of OneWeb came fast and in a matter of days. Recently, Via Satellite spoke with a OneWeb insider to talk about the events that led up to the company entering into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection late Friday, March 27, in one of the biggest stories in the satellite sector this year.
The week of SATELLITE – March 9 through March 12
The week of SATELLITE 2020 was a dramatic week for many reasons. For OneWeb, it would be a week that would define its future. Via Satellite‘s source said OneWeb was due to close a funding round that week, and blamed its failure on the pandemic.
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“This was when President Trump shut the U.S. border and the market started to plunge. … We were due to close a round at a board meeting on Thursday, March 12 of SATELLITE. At that board meeting, Softbank told us they could not proceed with the round.”
One Hour Before The Launch – The Bombshell
By the time OneWeb’s batch of 34 satellites were launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Saturday, March 21, the company’s fate had been sealed. One hour before the launch, news filtered through that Softbank had decided to pull funding.
“It was a gut punch to get that call just before the launch. There was a percentage chance that something like that could happen. You go into shock mode and start making plans,” the insider said.
Impact of COVID-19
The source said, “As extraordinary as it sounds, without COVID, I think we would have closed that funding round above $2 billion the Thursday of SATELLITE week and we would have been moving ahead.”
What Changed with Softbank?
“We weren’t seeing any changes on the behalf of Softbank in terms of their attitude towards OneWeb. If that had been the case, we could have abandoned the financing round, and put the company up for sale or looked at a strategic divestment. We were full speed on the funding round right up until the week of the SATELLITE show. Things were looking very good. We thought there was a path forward.”
There appears no lingering animosity towards Softbank. “I haven’t met one OneWeb employee that was angry with Softbank. They did everything they could, and even went above and beyond,” the insider said.
OneWeb’s Legacy
The insider thinks the operator’s legacy will be the groundbreaking changes it made in the industry, particularly with waveform modems. “The LTE waveform is so adaptable. That is a big gamechanger that nobody spotted.” VS
