Andhra Pradesh: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Sunday launched 36 OneWeb satellites into space in a textbook mission. The spacecraft lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota to Low Earth Orbit with probes from the UK-based company.
The OneWeb constellation is a network of satellites around the planet that are aimed at providing broadband connectivity across the world. The UK company is implementing a constellation of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites. India’s Bharti Enterprises serves as a major investor and shareholder in OneWeb.
The 150-kilogram satellites are deployed in 12 planes, with each plane separated by four kilometers in altitude to prevent an inter-plane collision.
OneWeb’s commitment to enhance connectivity in India is backed by Bharti Global, its largest investor.
This was the sixth flight of LVM3, which was earlier known as Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle MkIII (GSLVMkIII). The LVM3 had five consecutive successful missions, including the Chandrayaan-2 mission.
It is notable that the total number of foreign satellites launched by India has now gone up to 422 starting from 1999.
