ISRO launches 36 LVM3-M3 OneWeb internet satellites, reaches another milestone

India on Sunday, March 26 successfully launched 36 OneWeb internet satellites into space using the heaviest launch vehicle-- Launch Vehicle Mark-III (LVM3-M3)/OneWeb India-2 Mission. The launch took place from the second launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre SDSC-SHAR in Sriharikota at 9:00 am by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).  

This is the second mission with the United Kingdom-based OneWeb Group Company which has signed a commercial agreement with ISRO's commercial arm NewSpace India Ltd to launch 72 satellites into Low-Earth orbits (LEO). The first set of 36 satellites was launched in LVM3-M2/OneWeb India-1 mission on October 23, 2022.

In this mission, LVM3 would place 36 OneWeb Gen-1 satellites totalling about 5,805 kg into a 450 km circular orbit with an inclination of 87.4 degrees, said ISRO. This is the sixth flight of LVM3. The LVM3 had five consecutive successful missions, including the Chandrayaan-2 mission. 

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. 

The three-stage Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) LVM3 rocket was rolled out to the launch pad on March 20. Measuring 43.5 metres tall, the launch vehicle's core stage uses 115 tonnes of liquid propellant and is powered by two Vikas engines. It also has two strap-on boosters that use 204 tonnes of solid propellant and is among the largest solid boosters in the world.

According to ISRO, the LVM3 is its new heavy-lift launch vehicle and it has the capacity of placing 4,000 kg of payload to Geosynchronous Transfer Orbits (GTO) and 8,000 kg to low-Earth orbit (LEO), up to 600 km altitude to be specific. 

OneWeb has had 17 launches so far from different launch providers to complete its constellation of internet-providing satellites. The Russian space agency, Roscosmos and Elon Musk's SpaceX have been its biggest launch providers; but Roscosmos severed its ties after the Ukraine crisis began since the UK government has stakes in the company. OneWeb then inked a partnership with ISRO and the first and most successful one was conducted on October 23, 2022. After the next launch, "we will reach 616 satellites in orbit - more than enough satellites to launch global services later this year," the company tweeted. 

Watch the ISRO launch here