One Web
Context:
Gujarat’s Department of Science and Technology (DST) signed a MoU with One Web India Communications Pvt Ltd to establish India’s first ‘satellite network portal site’ in Mehsana, Gujarat.
About One Web:
- It is a UK-based global communication network powered from space, enabling connectivity for governments, businesses, and communities.
- It is implementing a constellation of LEO satellites.
- India’s Bharti Enterprises serves as a major investor and shareholder in One Web.
- The satellite network portal site will serve as a signal and data downlink and uplink terminal on the ground, facilitating data transmission through satellite tracking antenna systems.
- Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites, operating at 500 to 1,200 km altitude, offer high-speed and low-latency communications compared to geostationary satellites.
- One Web has 648 satellites in LEO, making 13 orbits per day, covering the entire globe.
- To achieve global coverage, 40 such satellite network portal sites are required, with India planning to have at least 2 sites – one in Gujarat and another likely in Tamil Nadu.