Soyuz rocket to launch 34 OneWeb internet satellites today. Here's how to watch online.

Update for 1:23 p.m. EDT: A Soyuz rocket has successfully launched 34 OneWeb internet satellites into orbit. They will be deployed into their initial orbits over the next several hours. Read our full story here.

An Arianespace Soyuz rocket will launch more than 30 new OneWeb internet satellites into orbit today (March 21) and you can watch it all live online.

The Russian-built Soyuz 2.1b rocket is scheduled to launch 34 OneWeb broadband satellites into orbit at 1:06 p.m. EDT (1706 GMT) from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. You'll can watch the liftoff live here at Space.com, courtesy of a OneWeb Facebook feed, or directly via the company's Facebook page.

In photos: OneWeb launches global satellite internet constellation

An Arianespace Soyuz 2.1 rocket stands atop its launchpad at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to launch 34 OneWeb communications satellites. Liftoff is set for March 21, 2020. (Image credit: Roscosmos)

Today's launch will mark the third flight for OneWeb's internet satellite constellation and the second this year. The first six satellites launched in February 2019, with another 34 satellites lifting off last month.

Ultimately, OneWeb aims to launch at least 650 satellite into low Earth orbit to form a constellation designed to provide internet service to customers around the world. But OneWeb has a long way to go before reaching that goal. Today's launch will bring the constellation up to 74 satellites. OneWeb has dedicated the launch to the late Russian cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, who became the first person ever to walk in space 55 years ago this month. Leonov died last October at age 85.

OneWeb has dedicated its third broadband satellite launch to the memory of the world's first spacewalker, cosmonaut Alexei Leonov. The launch comes 55 years after Leonov's spacewalk. (Image credit: OneWeb)

OneWeb is just one of several companies working to build a megaconstellation of broadband internet satellites. SpaceX, the company founded by Elon Musk, has already launched 360 satellites for its Starlink constellation and aims to loft at least 12,000 for its baseline constellation.

Amazon has plans for its own network, called Project Kuiper, but has not yet begun launches.

Today's launch calls for the Soyuz 2.1b booster to launch OneWeb's satellites into a polar orbit 280 miles (450 kilometers) above Earth. The satellites will eventually head to a final orbit 745 miles (1,200 km) above Earth.

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Tariq is the Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001, first as an intern and staff writer, and later as an editor. He covers human spaceflight, exploration and space science, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Managing Editor in 2009 and Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. In October 2022, Tariq received the Harry Kolcum Award for excellence in space reporting from the National Space Club Florida Committee. He is also an Eagle Scout (yes, he has the Space Exploration merit badge) and went to Space Camp four times as a kid and a fifth time as an adult. He has journalism degrees from the University of Southern California and New York University. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast with space historian Rod Pyle on the TWiT network. To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik.