In a flawless mission, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) deployed 36 OneWeb satellites into orbit on Sunday. Using probes from the UK-based firm, the spacecraft launched to Low Earth Orbit from Sriharikota's Satish Dhawan Space Center.
OneWeb is a constellation of satellites that orbits the planet and aims to offer a global broadband connection. The UK business is putting in place a constellation of LEO satellites. OneWeb's largest shareholder and investor is Bharti Enterprises of India.
To avoid an inter-plane collision, the 12 planes carrying the 150-kilogram satellites are spaced four kilometers apart in the air.
The Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle Mark-III, India's heaviest launch vehicle, is now known as the LVM-III (GSLV-MkIII). The rocket's designation was changed from GSLV to LVM for the sole reason that it won't place the satellite in a geosynchronous orbit. The OneWeb satellites are in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), which is 1,200 kilometers above the Planet.
The rocket's three stages operated normally and delivered the satellite to its intended orbit. In accordance with a contract between the UK business and New Space India Limited, this was the second launch of the LVM-III carrying the OneWeb satellites (NSIL). The 75-minute mission, one of the longest for the spacecraft, will include the deployment of the satellite.
As soon as the spaceship ascended above 400 kilometers above Earth, it started to deploy the satellites. Once the cryo stage was shut off, the 36 satellites were launched in five phases on their respective orbital planes as Isro proclaimed "mission accomplished."
This was ISRO's second significant mission of 2023. The Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) was previously launched by the Indian space agency earlier this year on its second demonstration flight.
