ISRO’s heaviest rocket enters global commercial service market with new mission

With the countdown already having started, the ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) is set to launch 36 broadband communication satellites aboard Launch Vehicle Mark 3 (LVM3), the space agency’s heaviest rocket.

As the 24-hour countdown ends Saturday midnight, this project is special for more reasons than one

Here are five points on the mission:

1. This is the first commercial mission for ISRO’s heaviest launcher. Also, the payload mass of 5,796 kg would be the heaviest.

2. The contract between NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) – ISRO’s commercial arm – and the United Kingdom-based ‘OneWeb’ – for the launch is said to be “a key milestone”. India’s Bharti Enterprises is a major investor in OneWeb, which is a global communications network powered from space. OneWeb enables connectivity between governments, communities and businesses.

3. With this, the LVM3 “is making its entry into the global commercial launch service market,” the space agency has said on its website.

4. This is also the first multi-satellite mission. Thirty-six satellites “will be placed into orbit one by one LVM3”, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota.

5. While it is NSIL’s first mission with LVM3, it is also the first time that an Indian rocket would have a six ton payload.

It is also LVM3’s first mission to LEO (low earth orbit), an orbit which is relatively closer to the Earth. The OneWeb Constellation, as per ISRO, operates in a LEO Polar Orbit, and satellites are arranged in 12 rings (Orbital planes) with 49 satellites in each plane. Meanwhile, with two solid motor strap-ons, liquid propellant core stage and a cryogenic stage, LVM3 is a three-stage vehicle.