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Eutelsat's OneWeb Constellation Hit by 48-Hour Outage After Leap Year Glitch: A Stark Reminder of How Small Software Bugs Can Disrupt Major Tech Systems


OneWeb managed to restore its services after a 48-hour outage.

Joanna Darlington, Eutelsat chief communications and investor relations officer, told Via Satellite that the 2024 leap year “seems to be the most likely cause” for the software glitch. The company originally relied on Russia’s Soyuz rocket to launch its satellites, but its relationship with Roscosmos quickly deteriorated following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. In retaliation against the Western sanctions imposed against Russia, Roscosmos refused to launch the OneWeb satellites unless the company agreed to a list of demands.

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