Eutelsat announced on January 2, 2025, that it successfully restored services across its OneWeb network following a software glitch that caused a two-day outage.
The disruption, which affected Eutelsat’s low Earth orbit network, was attributed to a software issue within the company’s ground segment. This incident was specifically due to an oversight regarding the leap year in 2024, as confirmed by Eutelsat spokesperson Joanna Darlington. Services were partially restored 36 hours after the outage commenced on December 31, 2024.
Joanna Darlington assured that a comprehensive investigation would be undertaken to prevent future occurrences. Although OneWeb currently covers the Americas, and large areas of Europe and Asia, delays in constructing and obtaining approval for its ground infrastructure have impacted its global services.
Eutelsat highlighted its multi-orbit capabilities as a competitive advantage against Starlink’s dominance in the low Earth orbit sector. The operator plans to enhance OneWeb services with geostationary capacity to provide network redundancy in high-demand regions, although this was not employed during the recent outage.
To maintain its constellation, Eutelsat has ordered 100 new OneWeb satellites from Airbus Defence and Space, scheduled to enter service as the existing spacecraft approach the end of their operational lives in 2027 and 2028.
Eutelsat’s swift resolution of the OneWeb outage underscores its commitment to ensuring reliable satellite services. The planned investigations and strategic investments in new satellite infrastructure aim to bolster network resilience and service coverage worldwide.
Source: Spacenews
