New Delhi,Updated: March 17, 2023 12:59 IST
By India Today Science Desk: India Space Research Organization (ISRO) will launch the second batch of 36 OneWeb satellites into space on March 26. Internet Nakshatra will be launched from Sriharikota on India’s heaviest launch vehicle, LVM-III
The launch will put 36 satellites in the OneWeb constellation into low Earth orbit, completing the deployment of the UK-based company’s Gen-1 network.
“This mission marks OneWeb’s second satellite deployment from India, highlighting the collaboration between the UK and Indian space industries,” OneWeb tweeted.
ISRO redesigned the launch vehicle from GSLV Mk-III as LVM-3. Although the practice of changing launcher names is not uncommon, this one is new for India and LVM-3 stands for Launch Vehicle Mark III.
The only reason to change the name of the vehicle from GSLV to LVM is that the rocket will not place satellites in geosynchronous orbit. OneWeb satellites operate in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at an altitude of 1,200 km.
On the other hand, geosynchronous orbit is 35,786 km above the Earth’s equator.
This will be the 18th launch for OneWeb, completing its first constellation around Earth The company recently launched the 17th to deploy 40 Internet satellites on SpaceX’s Falcon-9 rocket. The mission is expected to depart from Sriharikota at 9 am on Sunday.
The British government-backed agency canceled a planned launch of 36 broadband satellites on a Russian Soyuz rocket in March last year after Russia suspended its main space mission in the wake of Moscow’s aggression in Ukraine.
Dmitry Rogzin said at the time that his company wanted OneWeb to guarantee that its satellites would not be used against Russia.
The dispute was a temporary setback for OneWeb’s plans to build an initial constellation of 588 satellites to provide global broadband coverage, forcing the company to quickly secure new rocket contracts with the Indian Space Research Organization and SpaceX.
