INDIA LAUNCHES HEAVIEST ROCKET WITH 36 SATELLITES

Sun 26 March 2023:

India on Sunday launched its heaviest rocket, Launch Vehicle Mark 3 (LVM3 or GSLV Mark 3), which successfully placed 36 satellites into orbit, the country’s Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) announced.

“All 36 OneWeb Gen-1 satellites injected into the intended orbits. In its 6th consecutive successful flight, LVM3 carried 5805 kgs (12,798 pounds) of payload to Low Earth Orbit,” the agency wrote on Twitter, calling the mission “accomplished.”

At local time 9 a.m., the rocket was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, the agency said.

This is the second mission for London-based communications company OneWeb Network Access Associates Limited under a commercial agreement with ISRO and NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), the commercial arm of the Indian space agency. OneWeb India-1 mission, the first collaboration between OneWeb, ISRO, and NSIL, launched 36 satellites to low-Earth orbit on October 23, 2022. 

The first set of 36 satellites was launched in October last year.

LVM3 is a three-stage rocket with the first stage fired with liquid fuel, the two strap-on motors powered by solid fuel, the second by liquid fuel and the third is the cryogenic engine. The satellites are divided into 12 planes and will seprate in a phased manner . It will function at an altitude of 1200 kilometres above the planet. This deployment will complete the first constellation of 648 satellites around the planet by the UK company.