36 OneWeb satellites launched by ISRO, 1st commercial launch for LVM-3
A constellation of 36 broadband satellites developed by OneWeb and launched to Low Earth Orbit on Sunday by the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) on Saturday.The LVM3-M2/OneWeb India-1 Mission successfully launched 36 satellites into their intended orbits, according to the ISRO.The satellites were launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on the Launch Vehicle Mark-III, a renamed version of the Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle (GSLV Mk-III). At 12.07. the launch took place. Although GSLV LVM 3 has a 10 tonne payload capacity, the rocket only launched with 6 tonne.According to a contract between OneWeb and New Space India Limited, this is LVM-3’s first commercial launch (NSIL).
The rocket will not launch satellites into geosynchronous orbit, which is the only reason the name of the vehicle was changed from GSLV to LVM. The OneWeb satellites are in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), which is 1,200 kilometres above the Earth. On the other hand, the geosynchronous orbit is situated 35,786 kilometres above the equator of the planet.The satellites are a component of the OneWeb constellation of 468 spacecraft, which was launched into Leo Earth Orbit to bring Internet access to remote locations. For the launch, OneWeb signed a contract worth more than Rs 1000 crore, and a subsequent GSLV launch with a OneWeb payload is scheduled for January 2023.
The GSLV-Mk-III has been configured to deploy the satellites in the LEO with two solid strap-on boosters and a liquid core stage that have been integrated at the second launch pad.
“ISRO’s rocket LVM3 will carry 36 satellites of a private communications firm OneWeb. A 24-hour countdown to the launch has started. Another set of 36 OneWeb satellites will be launched by the LVM3 in the first half of next year, “scientist S Somanath, Chairman, said ISRO
