Chennai:
The Indian space agency on Saturday at 12:07 a.m. began the 24-hour countdown for the launch of its heavy-lift rocket GSLV Mk III – renamed for this mission as LVM3 M2 – carrying 36 ‘OneWeb’ satellites.
The 43.5 metre tall and weighing 644 ton LVM3 M2 rocket is scheduled to blast off from the first second pad at India’s rocket port in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh at 12:07 am on Sunday.
“The countdown is in progress smoothly. The gas charging and propellant filling operations of L110 stage are progressing,” an Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) official said.
Normally the GSLV rocket is used for launching India’s geostationary communication satellites. And hence it was named as GeoSynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV). The GSLV MkIII refers to the third generation rocket.
As the rocket that will fly on Sunday morning will be orbiting the OneWeb satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), the ISRO has renamed GSLV MkIII as LVM3 (Launch Vehicle MkIII).
The rocket, just over 19 minutes into its flight, will sling the 36 small broadband communication satellites of Network Access Associated Ltd (OneWeb) in low earth orbit (LEO). OneWeb, is a joint venture between India Bharti Global and the UK government.
The LVM3 M2 is a three stage rocket with the first stage fired with liquid fuel, the two strap on motors powered by solid fuel, the second by liquid fuel and the third is the cryogenic engine.
The ISRO’s heavy lift rocket has a carrying capacity of 10 ton to the LEO and four ton to the Geo Transfer Orbit (GTO).
“The total launch mass of OneWeb satellites will be 5,796 kg,” said ISRO.
Meanwhile, the Sunday rocket mission has several firsts for the Indian space sector. It is the first commercial launch of GSLV MkIII and for the first time an Indian rocket will be ferrying a payload of about six tonnes. Similarly, the OneWeb is using an Indian rocket to put its satellites into orbit for the first time. Also, it is the first commercial launch of GSLV MkIII contracted by NSIL, and for the first time a renamed GSLV MkIII is being used for launching satellites in LEO. (IANS)