ISRO scripts History! Launches 36 OneWeb satellites in 1st commercial launch for LVM-3

Adding another feather to its much-decorated hat, India's space agency Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched 36 satellites using its biggest rocket just after midnight on Sunday. The rocket successfully places 36 OneWeb satellites into orbits, as confirmed by ISRO.

 

 

These satellites are owned by the London-based communications company OneWeb, in which India's Bharti Enterprises is a significant shareholder, and were launched by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on the rocket LVM3. The entire mission to place 36 satellites took around 75 minutes from the lift-off as it required scientists to turn off the engine to place the satellites into their respective orbits.

 

It's the first commercial satellite launch for the LVM3 rocket. The central government-owned corporation NewSpace India Ltd., also known as NSIL, and the London-based enterprise signed the agreement.“Another set of 36 OneWeb satellites will be launched by the LVM3 in the first half of next year,” an NSIL said.

 

 

 

 

This was also the first time any of India’s rockets carried a 6-ton payload to space. The newest and heaviest rocket produced by the Indian space agency is capable of launching satellites that weigh four tonnes, or almost as much as a huge flatbed truck. The weight of the 36 satellite payload totalled around 5.8 tonnes, which is the heaviest payload for the space agency to date. The rocket is a three-stage launch vehicle consisting of two solid propellants S200 strap-ons on its sides and a core stage comprising L110 liquid stage and C25 cryogenic stage. The sole reason behind changing the name of the vehicle from GSLV to LVM is that the rocket will not deploy the satellites in the geosynchronous orbit.

 

 

 

The LVM3-M2 mission would give a boost to the space agency with the new launch vehicle to place satellites into the low earth orbit, along with its trusted workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). With this, the LVM3 “is making its entry into the global commercial launch service market.

 

Terming the mission 'historic', (ISRO) chairman Dr S Somanath said that this has been possible because of PM Modi's support as he wanted LVM3 to come into the commercial market. "It's a historic mission...It has been possible because of PM Modi's support as he wanted LVM3 to come into the commercial market, with NSIL in the forefront, to operationalise our launch vehicles for exploring and expanding the commercial domain,"Dr S Somanath said.

 

He added, "We have already started the (Diwali) celebration ...16 out of 36 satellites have successfully separated safely, and the remaining 20 satellites will be separated. The data will come a little later and the operation of observing is underway."