MOSCOW: In response to international sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine, Russia's space agency has refused to launch the UK's three dozen OneWeb Internet satellites unless its demands are met.

OneWeb's 36 satellites, which were set to launch on March 5 on a Russian Soyuz rocket, were rolled out to the launch pad at the Russian-controlled Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, according to Space.com.

In a tweet on Wednesday, Roscosmos Director-General Dmitry Rogozin stated that the agency will not launch the satellites as scheduled unless the corporation guarantees that the craft will not be utilised for military reasons.

As another requirement for launch, the agency required that the UK government, which is a major shareholder in OneWeb, withdraw its involvement. Roscosmos would withdraw the Soyuz 2.1b rocket carrying the satellites from the launch pad if these demands are not honoured by 1.30 p.m. EST on Friday, reports read.

"On OneWeb, there will be no negotiations: the UK government will not sell its stake. We've spoken out to other shareholders to talk about the next steps "Kwasi Kwarteng, a UK Member of Parliament and Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, wrote on Twitter.

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