LAUNCH OF ONEWEB SATELLITES - SCI & TECH
News: ISRO
puts 36 OneWeb satellites in orbit
What's in the news?
● Indian
Space Research Organization’s heaviest payload rocket, LVM3 carrying 36 OneWeb satellites onboard took off on March 26
from the second launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre SDSC-SHAR,
Sriharikota. The 43.5 metre tall vehicle weighs 643 tonne.
Key takeaways:
● This
is the second mission for Network Access Associates Limited, United Kingdom (OneWeb
Group Company) under a commercial
agreement with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) to launch 72 satellites to Low-Earth orbits. The first set of 36
satellites was launched in the LVM3-M2/OneWeb India-1 mission on October 23,
2022.
Mission Features:
● 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.
● ISRO uses its heaviest
payload rocket, LVM3, for the mission from
Sriharikota; in its sixth flight, the
vehicle used the upgraded S200 motors with enhanced margins suitable for
the upcoming Gaganyaan mission.
○ The
LVM3 had five consecutive successful missions, including the Chandrayaan-2
mission.
● With
the successful launch, OneWeb completes
its constellation of 618 satellites.
● OneWeb’s
satellites separated successfully from the rocket and were dispensed in nine
phases over a period of 1 hours and 14 minutes, with signal acquisition on all
36 satellites confirmed.
Go back to basics:
OneWeb:
● OneWeb
is a global communication network powered from space, enabling connectivity for
governments, businesses, and communities.
● It
is implementing a constellation of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites.
● India’s Bharti
Enterprises serves as a major investor and
shareholder in OneWeb.
● This
is OneWeb’s 18th launch, its third this
year, bringing the total of OneWeb’s constellation to 618 satellites.
● This
launch is a major milestone for the company, with the number of satellites now
in-orbit enabling global service, the first LEO operator to reach this
milestone. OneWeb will soon be ready to roll out its global coverage.
LVM-3:
● LVM3
is a three-stage vehicle with two
solid motor strap-ons, a liquid propellant core stage and a cryogenic stage.
● LVM3-M2
is the dedicated commercial satellite
mission of NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), a Central Public Sector
Enterprise (CPSE) under the Department of Space, Government of India.
● The
LVM3 is the heaviest launch vehicle
of ISRO.
Payload capacity:
● The
LVM3 was conceived primarily for launching geo-stationary satellites with a
payload capacity of 4T, which can be used for launching 6T payloads for LEO.