SRIHARIKOTA, Mar 20:
The Indian Space Research Orgsanisation (Isro) has moved the Launch Vehicle Mark-III (LVM-III) with 36 OneWeb satellites to the launch pad. India’s heaviest launch vehicle will lift off on March 26 with 36 broadband satellites to Low Earth Orbit (LEO).
This will be the second launch of the OneWeb satellites from India in the last year as the company aims to complete its maiden network of the broadband constellation with the 18th launch from India.
The LVM-III with OneWeb satellites will roar into the skies from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. “This mission marks OneWeb’s second satellite deployment from India, highlighting the collaboration between the UK and Indian space industries,” OneWeb tweeted.
This will be the 18th launch for OneWeb, which will complete its first constellation around Earth. The company recently conducted the 17th launch to deploy 40 internet satellites onboard SpaceX’s Falcon-9 rocket. The mission is expected to liftoff at 9 am on Sunday from Sriharikota.
The British government-backed company in March last year canceled a planned launch of 36 broadband satellites aboard Russia’s Soyuz rocket after Russia’s space chief halted the mission in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Since then, OeWeb has looked toward India and has collaborated with ISRO and Elon Musk’s SpaceX to complete its network of broadband constellations.
The LVM-III is the redesignated title of India’s heaviest launch vehicle Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle Mark-III (GSLV-MkIII). 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.
LVM-III is a three-stage launch vehicle consisting of two solid propellant S200 strap-ons and core stages comprising of the L110 liquid stage, the C25 cryogenic stage, the equipment bay (EB), and the Encapsulated assembly (EA). Isro said that the Encapsulated assembly comprises the spacecraft, payload adaptor (PLA), and the payload fairing
The rocket has a lift-off mass of 640 tons, and the 43.5-meter tall three-stage launch vehicle gives India full self-reliance in launching heavier communication satellites that weigh up to 4000 kg into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). (AGENCIES)
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