Soyuz held hostage
Russia withdrew its Soyuz launches and impounded thirty-six already-paid-for OneWeb satellites in Baikonur. The constellation had to be rebuilt at vast cost on rival Indian and American rockets.
A working catalogue entry, kept current. Each paragraph is drawn from the publicly documented record.
On 26 February 2022, Roscosmos director Dmitry Rogozin announces the withdrawal of Russian launch personnel from the Centre Spatial Guyanais and the suspension of Soyuz launches from Kourou. Thirty-six already-paid-for OneWeb satellites at Baikonur, scheduled for launch in March, are impounded as hostages against the lifting of UK sanctions.
OneWeb has to procure replacement launches from SpaceX and ISRO at significant cost and substantial delay; the constellation finally reaches global service in 2023. The episode is the clearest possible demonstration that a launch contract from a politically exposed provider is not a launch — it is an option that someone else owns.
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