The countdown will begin for the launch of 36 broadband communication satellites aboard ISRO’s heaviest Rocket Launch Vehicle Mark 3 (LVM3) from the Sriharikota spaceport, soon after Friday midnight.
The launch of ‘LVM3 – M2/OneWeb India-1 mission’ is scheduled for 23 October (midnight of 22 October) at 0007 am Indian time.
OneWeb is a private satellite communications company. Bharti Enterprises of India is a major investor and shareholder in OneWeb.
According to the Bengaluru-headquartered National Space Agency, this will mark the launcher’s entry into the global commercial launch services market.
“The 24-hour countdown is scheduled to begin on October 22 at 0007,” a Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) the official said on Friday afternoon.
NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), a Central Public Sector Enterprise under the Department of Space, has earlier partnered with London-headquartered Network Access Associated Limited (OneWeb) to launch OneWeb LEO (Low Earth Orbit) satellites on board ISRO. Launch service contracts were signed. LVM3.
“This is the first LVM3 dedicated commercial launch on demand through NSIL,” the space agency’s commercial arm NSIL said.
“Another set of 36 OneWeb satellites will be launched by LVM3 in the first half of next year,” an NSIL official told PTI.
According to ISRO, “This agreement with M/s OneWeb is a historic milestone for NSIL and ISRO, as LVM3 forays into the global commercial launch services market.”
latest rocket It is capable of launching a four-tonne class satellite into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).
The LVM3 is a three-stage vehicle with two solid motor strap-ons, a liquid propellant core stage and a cryogenic stage.