While SpaceX isn’t the only company that beams internet to Earth from space, it is a name that many folks recognise.

What makes SpaceX rather unique is that it can launch its Starlink satellites on its own, with its own rockets. While there is still a cost involved, this allows SpaceX to launch satellites with a degree of regularity.

A company that can’t do that is OneWeb in the UK which has until recently been launching its rockets via Roscosmos, Russia’s space agency.

That was until Russia invaded Ukraine and a litany of restrictions and sanctions were placed on Russia. In light of the sanctions placed on Russia by the UK, Roscosmos stomped its feet and refused to launch a fleet of 36 satellites for OneWeb unless it complied with the space agency’s demands.

Those demands, as reported by CNBC, included the UK government selling its stake in OneWeb and OneWeb guaranteeing that it’s satellites won’t be used for military purposes. Of course, these demands weren’t met and OneWeb was forced to find an alternative.

That alternative is bizarrely also OneWeb’s competitor in the space, SpaceX. On Monday the firm announced that it had entered into an agreement with SpaceX to resume satellite launches.

“We thank SpaceX for their support, which reflects our shared vision for the boundless potential of space. With these launch plans in place, we’re on track to finish building out our full fleet of satellites and deliver robust, fast, secure connectivity around the globe,” said OneWeb chief executive officer, Neil Masterson.

The details of this agreement are confidential but OneWeb says the first launch with SpaceX will happen in 2022.

The tensions on the ground haven’t stopped science operations on the International Space Station thankfully. Three Russian cosmonauts arrived at the ISS last week. The three new cosmonauts – Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev and Segey Korsakov – are expected to remain at the orbital laboratory for over six months.

Here’s hoping the tensions on the ground don’t reach the ISS.