UK space start-up OneWeb has received an investment of $500m from Indian Bharti Global.
Now Indian Bharti Global is the biggest shareholder in satellite provider, this deal means Bharti will now take a 39% stake. The UK government is also a major shareholder after it and Bharti put in $1bn to buy OneWeb out of bankruptcy last year. This new investment will help OneWeb launch more commercial satellites into space later this year.
OneWeb is building a network of low Earth Orbit Satellite to deliver broadband connections around the world.
This deal is expected to complete in the second half of this year.
"In just a year and during a global pandemic, together we have transformed OneWeb, bringing the operation back to full-scale. With this round of financing, we complete the funding requirements," said in a statement by Bharti Global's Managing Director Shravin Mittal.
In total company has secured $2.4bn of funding to deliver on its ambitions. Paris-based Eutelsat took a stake in OneWeb with a $550m investment is April. Japanese technology giant SoftBank is also a major investor in this company.
Under this deal, the UK government, Eutelsat and SoftBank will each own 19.3% of the firm.
UK Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said the deal is a vote of confidence in the company: " It's clear that investors see a strong future for this incredible, cutting-edge company and a robust commercial case for investment."
The British governement has been criticised for using UK taxpayer money to rescue a bankrupt company at the time of bailout.
Earlier this week OneWeb signed a deal with BT to provide broadband internet over the remote areas of UK and people at sea.
OneWeb says it has currently 218 satellites and is due to launch a further 36 on Thursday.
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