The collaboration is a result of ISRO’s commercial arm NewSpace India Limited’s two service contracts, signed with One Web for launching low Earth orbit broadband communication satellites.
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) informed on Thursday that it will launch 36 satellites of United Kingdom’s global communications network OneWeb onboard its heaviest launcher LVM3 or the Launch Vehicle Mark III later this month. The launch under ‘OneWeb India-1 mission/ LVM3 M2' will mark LVM3’s entry into the global commercial launch service market.
The collaboration is a result of ISRO’s commercial arm NewSpace India Limited’s two service contracts, signed with One Web for launching low Earth orbit (LEO) broadband communication satellites. ISRO said that as part of the contract, 36 satellites will be placed into orbit by one LVM3, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
With the launch, OneWeb will have over 70 per cent of its planned ‘Gen 1 LEO constellations’ in orbit as it prepares to deliver high-speed, low latency connectivity for governments, businesses, and communities.
ISRO shared the details about the launch preparations on its Twitter handle, informing that integration of the cryogenic upper stage of the launch vehicle and the integration of payload fairing with 36 satellites will take place in the coming days, making it launch-ready by the 3rd or 4th week of October.
OneWeb - a global communications network powered by a constellation of 648 LEO satellites is headquartered in London. Launched in February 2019, it aims at delivering connectivity everywhere around the world through the implementation of a constellation of LEO satellites.
India’s Bharti is a major investor and shareholder of OneWeb.
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News/Science/ ISRO plans to launch 36 OneWeb satellites this month. Details here