Indian Space Research Organisation’s heaviest rocket, GSLV MkIII, is set to launch 36 satellites of the OneWeb communication constellation from the country’s only space port at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, at 7 am on October 23. With this the GSLV MkIII will enter the global commercial launch service market.
In a tweet, the ISRO said: “LVM3 – M2/OneWeb India-1 Mission: Launch scheduled at 0007 hrs. IST on October 23, 2022. Cryo stage, equipment bay (EB) assembly completed. Satellites are encapsulated and assembled in the vehicle. Final vehicle checks are in progress.”
The space agency has also thrown open the viewing gallery for the people to witness the launch, which has been done for the first time since the pandemic started.
The launch aboard India’s heaviest rocket was purchased by the United Kingdom-based Network Access Associated Limited through the New Space India Limited, one of the commercial arms of the space agency. Bharti group-backed OneWeb is a constellation of satellites in low earth orbit to provide broadband services.
This is the first time that India’s heaviest rocket is being used for a commercial launch. Also, this will the first time a rocket other than India’s workhorse – Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) – is being used to carry out commercial launch.
Since its first operational flight, the PSLV has conducted at least eight commercial-only launches. The vehicle has established itself in the global market, having launched at least 345 foreign satellites from 36 countries, with its most notable flight being the 2017 PSLV-C37 mission that put 104 satellites in orbits (of which 101 were foreign commercial satellites).
This will be the second flight of the GSLV Mk III — after it joined the ISRO fleet having completed two development flights — since it carried India’s second lunar mission Chandrayaan-2.
The other heavier launch vehicle, GSLV, has a spottier record with fourteen launches so far, including the development flights. However, only eight of the missions were a complete success. None of these missions were commercial ones.
India currently has three operational launch vehicles – the PSLV, GSLV, and GSLV Mk III. The space agency has also developed a small satellite launch vehicle, whose first development flight earlier this year was partially successful.
The government opened up the space sector for private players in 2020, promoting new activities by existing ISRO collaborators and also encouraging start-ups that offer full gamut of activities from launch services, satellite development, to down-stream applications. There are over 100 start-ups in the country now. The aim of opening up the sector was to allow the private players to offer routine space services while ISRO focuses on scientific missions.
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