Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department made an assessment of the potential merits of alternatives to the Russian Soyuz rockets for the launch of OneWeb; and what plans his Department has to make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) alternative launch technology source and (b) postponing the launch of the remaining 36 OneWeb satellites so that an alternative launch technology can be identified.

Discussions on alternative launch providers and the roll out of OneWeb satellites are a matter for OneWeb. These commercially sensitive discussions are likely to take time given the fast-changing situation and complexity of launch planning. We will engage with OneWeb in its thinking on alternative launch providers where appropriate.