Artist’s rendition of the OneWeb constellation. Photo: OneWeb

The European Space Agency (ESA) awarded OneWeb $20.4 million (18 million euros) of U.K. Space Agency funding to aid in the development of its next generation satellite constellation. The constellation will be comprised of approximately 650 satellites initially, and scale to more than 900 satellites over time

The news comes as the first batch of 10 satellites of the OneWeb constellation are due to be launched on an Arianespace Soyuz rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on Feb 26.

“Providing access to people everywhere has been the mission and vision of OneWeb since the very beginning,” said OneWeb Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Adrian Steckel. “We will be able to realize this vision in part because of important partnerships like this one with the U.K. Space Agency, ESA, and a range of other important partners including our European and Canadian partners. Thanks to this support, we will focus together on next generation technologies that will be game changers for realizing global 5G connectivity”