UK satellite communications company OneWeb has snapped up 10,000 Low Earth Orbit (LEO) terminals from Hughes Network Systems.

The acquisition will enable OneWeb to provide networking services for enterprise and government customers.

Hughes, which through its parent company Echostar is an investor in OneWeb, is set to start production of the LEO terminals in the second half of next year, confirmed OneWeb.

It builds on a distribution agreement deal signed by the two companies in April of this year, which saw the companies agree to deliver managed LEO services to the US Department of Defense (DoD).

More significantly, Hughes won the $250 million contract to develop and build the ground system technology for OneWeb's LEO constellation two years ago, with this constellation expected to reach 648 next year.

"We are excited about the capabilities in the Hughes flat panel and the unique benefits we can extend to our customers," said Massimiliano Ladovaz, CTO at OneWeb. "These terminals will enable our partners to optimize the low latency, high-speed benefits of our network with a turnkey, easy-to-install and operate terminal."

The models acquired by OneWeb center around model number HL1100, which includes the Hughes electronically steered antenna and compact indoor, and outdoor equipment necessary to activate high-speed, low-latency broadband service on the OneWeb constellation.

According to OneWeb, the models work out of the box and are compact, easy to install, and can enable speeds up to 195 Mbps down and 32 Mbps up. Prototype testing is already underway.

No mention of the price was given by either Hughes or OneWeb.