Indian Space Research Organisation launched heaviest vehicle LVM3

NEW DELHI, 23 OCTOBER ( UH). The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) launched a constellation of 36 broadband satellites developed by OneWeb to Low Earth Orbit on Sunday. The ISRO confirmed that LVM3-M2/OneWeb India-1 Mission successfully placed 36 satellites into intended orbits.

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has congratulated Indian space agencies/organizations viz, NSIL, IN-SPACe, and ISRO on the successful launch of the heaviest vehicle LVM3.

The satellites were launched onboard the Launch Vehicle Mark-III, which is a redesignated version of the Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle (GSLV Mk-III), from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. The launch took place at 12.07 am. Though GSLV LVM 3 has a payload capacity of 10 tonnes, the rocket lifted off with 6 tonnes.

The Prime Minister tweeted;

“Congratulations @NSIL_India @INSPACeIND @ISRO on the successful launch of our heaviest launch vehicle LVM3 with 36 OneWeb satellites meant for global connectivity. LVM3 exemplifies Atmanirbharta & enhances India’s competitive edge in the global commercial launch service market.”

This is the first commercial launch for LVM-3 and the mission is being conducted under an agreement between OneWeb and New Space India Limited (NSIL).

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 OneWeb satellites operate in Low Earth orbit (LEO) at an altitude of 1,200 kilometers. The geosynchronous orbit, on the other hand, is located 35,786 kilometers above Earth’s equator.