ISRO chairman hails ‘historic’ LVM3 success; BlueBird Block-2 becomes India's heaviest launch
The ISRO Chairman confirmed the precision injection of the BlueBird Block-2 satellite into its intended orbit, hailing the mission as a pivotal milestone for India’s commercial space sector.
ISRO Chairman V Narayanan hailed the successful launch of the BlueBird Block-2 communication satellite on Wednesday, describing it as the "heaviest satellite ever lifted from Indian soil using an Indian launcher".
The Chairman confirmed that the satellite was injected into its intended orbit with extreme precision, marking a pivotal milestone for India’s commercial space capabilities.
Speaking after the successful deployment, Chairman Narayanan stated:
"The launch vehicle has successfully and precisely injected the BlueBird Block-2 communication satellite into its intended orbit. This marks our first dedicated commercial launch for a U.S. customer, AST SpaceMobile. This is our 104th launch from Sriharikota and the 9th consecutive success for the LVM3, demonstrating its 100% reliability".
He further noted the rapid turnaround time for ISRO’s heavy-lifter:
"This is a back-to-back mission for the LVM3, completed in just 52 days. As the heaviest satellite ever launched from Indian soil, this third fully commercial mission for the LVM3 cements the vehicle's excellent track record".
Mission overview
The mission lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota at 8:55 AM IST. The BlueBird Block-2 is a next-generation spacecraft designed to deliver high-speed, space-based cellular broadband directly to standard 4G and 5G smartphones, bypassing the need for specialised hardware or modifications.
Technical Specifications of the LVM3:
The LVM3 is a three-stage heavy-lift vehicle consisting of:
- Two S200 solid strap-on motors
- An L110 liquid core stage
- A C25 cryogenic upper stage
While the vehicle has a standard capacity of 4,200 kg to Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO), this mission showcased its immense capability in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) by carrying the record-breaking BlueBird payload.
Expanding global connectivity
This launch follows a string of high-profile successes for the LVM3, including Chandrayaan-2, Chandrayaan-3, and two major OneWeb missions. The most recent mission prior to this was the LVM3-M5/CMS-03 launch on November 2 of this year.
AST SpaceMobile is currently building the world’s first and only space-based cellular broadband network. According to the company, their BlueBird constellation will eliminate connectivity gaps for billions of mobile subscribers, allowing for seamless video calls and web browsing from even the most remote locations on Earth.
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