It’s a happy Diwali for the Indian Space Agency in Sriharikota, a Barrier island off the Bay of Bengal coast in Andhra Pradesh.
It’s a happy Diwali for the Indian Space Agency. Marking its great entry into the commercial launch vehicle market, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) early today described the LVM-3/OneWeb mission of 36 UK satellites into a Low Earth Orbit as a successful mission. ISRO’s heaviest rocket with 36 satellites onboard blasts off from Sriharikota Island in Andhra Pradesh.
At the time of this narrative, ISRO Chairman Dr.S.Somanath said “At this moment 16 of the total 36 satellites got separated safely as achieved.” “This is a very slow process of satellites getting separated and it will take a long time…the process is on”, he added.
“The remaining 20 satellites will get separated in another 40-45 minutes and it cannot be seen”, he said, addressing the scientists from the Mission Control Centre. He said the separation of the other 20 satellites will be confirmed after the separation process was completed.
While lauding the entire ISRO team for the success of this mission, the maiden commercial venture of GSLV-MkIII, the ISRO Chief said this second effort of LVM-3, did a wonderful mission.
Somanath said this was possible due to the support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who wanted LVM to come into the commercial market for exploring the launch vehicle market segment. While lauding the entire launch vehicle team for this historical mission, Somanath exuded confidence that the next mission of LVM-3 will also be a success.
Reports on the ground say that on Sunday, the 43.5-meter tall rocket zoomed up royally at 12.07 am from the second launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre here at the end of the 24-hour countdown.
The heaviest rocket of the Indian Space Research Organisation– LVM3-M2/OneWeb India-1 blasted off from this spaceport on Sunday to place 36 broadband communication satellites into the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) for a UK-based customer.
In February 2021, ISRO’s mission 2021 lifted off grandly from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh carrying Bhagavad Gita, and PM Modi’s picture.
ISRO
The Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) was established by Jawaharlal Nehru under the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) in 1962.
The Indian Space Research Organisation[a] (ISRO; /ˈɪsroʊ/) is the national space agency of India, headquartered in Bangalore. It operates under the Department of Space (DOS) which is directly overseen by the Prime Minister of India, while the Chairman of ISRO acts as the executive of DOS as well.
ISRO is India’s primary agency for performing tasks related to space-based applications, space exploration, and the development of connected technologies. It is one of six government space agencies in the world that possess full launch capabilities, deploy cryogenic engines, launch extraterrestrial missions and operate large fleets of artificial satellites.