Watch: ISRO’s heaviest rocket blasts off from Sriharikota with 36 satellites

OneWeb, a London-based company, and NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), a central public sector enterprise under the Department of Space, had earlier agreed to two launch service contracts for OneWeb LEO satellite launches on board ISRO’s LVM3.

Watch the video of the blast off here.

OneWeb is a private satellite communications company, in which India’s Bharti Enterprises is a major investor and shareholder.

At the conclusion of a 24-hour countdown on Sunday, the 43.5-meter-tall rocket soared majestically at 12.07 am from the second launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in this city.

The vehicle is also dubbed as one of the heaviest for its ability to carry satellites upto 8,000 kg. The mission assumes significance as this was LVM3’s maiden commercial mission and also NSIL’s first with the said launch vehicle.

With 36 OneWeb satellites, the mission has the heaviest payloads, according to ISRO, making it the first Indian rocket with a payload of 5,796 kg.

In addition, LVM3-M2 is the first launch to place satellites in Low Earth Orbit (up to 1,200 kilometres above the Earth), as opposed to Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).

As the newest rocket is capable of launching payloads weighing up to 8,000 kg into LEO and satellites weighing up to 4,000 kg into GTO, ISRO scientists have changed the launch vehicle’s name from GSLV-MKK III to its current name.

Four previous GSLV-Mk III missions were completed successfully. The LVM3-M2 is a three-stage launch vehicle that has two strap-on solid propellant stages (S200) on its sides and a core stage that consists of an L110 liquid stage and a C25 cryogenic stage. Internet connectivity for businesses and governments is made possible by OneWeb Ltd, a global communication network powered by space.

(With inputs from PTI)