Sriharikota: India’s heavy-lift launch vehicle LVM3 on Wednesday successfully placed the US communications satellite BlueBird Block-2 into low Earth orbit, marking the heaviest payload ever launched by an Indian rocket from Indian soil.
Weighing 6,100 kg, the satellite was deployed during the LVM3-M6 mission, which also marked the rocket’s sixth operational flight and its third dedicated commercial mission. The launch took place in the early hours from the Second Launch Pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.
ISRO chairman V Narayanan said the mission closely matched its planned parameters. “This is the heaviest satellite to be launched by an Indian launcher in Indian soil. This is also the first back to back LVM3 launch missions within a period of 52days. With this, Isro has placed 434 satellites for 34 countries.”
According to mission data, the 43.5-metre-tall, 640-tonne rocket injected BlueBird Block-2 into a circular orbit at an altitude of around 518.5 km, against the targeted 520 km, with an inclination of 53 degrees, roughly 16 minutes after lift-off.
The mission was executed under a commercial agreement between NewSpace India Limited, the commercial arm of ISRO, and US-based AST & Science LLC. BlueBird Block-2 is part of a low Earth orbit satellite constellation being developed to enable direct-to-mobile connectivity on a global scale.
The satellite carries a 223 square metre phased-array antenna, making it the largest commercial communications satellite deployed in low Earth orbit to date. The constellation is designed to support 4G and 5G voice and video calls, video streaming, text messaging and data services directly on standard mobile phones, without the need for specialised ground equipment.
BI Bureau
