Samsung Confirms Upgrade Choice—Galaxy Users Must Now Decide “We believe the largest opportunity comes from providing Internet access to under- and unserved parts of the world, but there also is going to be increased demand for bandwidth from autonomous cars, the Internet of things, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and video,” Morgan Stanley equity analyst Adam Jonas said in the report. OneWeb isn’t alone in wanting to serve internet customers from low Earth orbit. For example, SpaceX has its own project, called Starlink, which also aims to have several thousand satellites in orbit providing high-speed internet starting in 2021. U.K.-based startup Sky and Space Global announced last week that it’s raised $12 million for its goal of putting 200 nanosatellites in low Earth orbit to provide internet services along the equator. Several other companies such as Boeing are also looking to build communications satellites in this orbit. This isn’t the first time there’s been a race for communications in low Earth orbit. There were efforts in the early 1990s as well, with Motorola’s project Iridium successfully getting satellite constellations. But the technology at the time couldn’t keep up with advances in cellphone technology, leading to bankruptcy for some providers while others went out of business before launching a single satellite. The technology has greatly advanced since then, but the history may make some investors skittish—something that Wednesday’s launch might help with. “OneWeb’s launch of test satellites is important from the perspective that (if successful) it helps to de-risk the story and prime the pump of needed investment flow,” Chris Quilty, founder of space industry strategy firm Quilty Analytics, told Forbes in an email. Wednesday’s launch is just the start of a long process for OneWeb to achieve Wyler’s vision. In order to achieve global coverage, OneWeb will need 650 satellites in low Earth orbit by mid-2021. It eventually plans to have over 2,000 in orbit. All of them will be launched by Arianespace; OneWeb signed a contract with the European launch provider for 21 launches in 2015. OneWeb already has customers ready and waiting for its data. In addition to the launch, the company also announced Wednesday at the Mobile World Congress that it has signed its first two client agreements. One is with U.K.-based Talia Limited to provide its customers in regions including Africa and the Middle East with consumer broadband internet. The second is to provide telecommunications services to Italian telecom company Intermatica to support its European customers. “We’re very excited about it. We’re moving from an idea to a project to a company,” said Steckel.