Indian Space Research Institute is creating new history in the field of space

Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is continuously creating new history in the world of space. In the last few years, ISRO scientists have achieved many big milestones in space and now ISRO has once again created a new history by launching 36 satellites weighing a total of 5805 kg. ISRO’s heaviest launch vehicle ‘LMV3’ (Launch Vehicle Mark-3), called Bahubali, took off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh carrying these satellites of the British company and placed these satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). ) launched on. This rocket mission code was named LMV3-M3/OneWeb India-2 mission by ISRO. The separation process of the satellites started 19 minutes after the rocket was launched and all 36 satellites separated in different stages. Low Earth Orbit is the lowest orbit of the Earth and after the United Kingdom (UK) based Network Access Associated Limited (OneWeb) has placed 36 satellites in space, now the first generation of the constellation of satellites in the low Earth orbit is complete. This successful campaign will help in the space base broadband internet plan in each and every part of the world. This was ISRO’s second successful launch after the successful launch of SSLV-D2/EOS 07 mission in February this year. ISRO’s 43.5 meter tall and 643 tonne Indian rocket LMV3 has so far completed five successful flights including Chandrayaan-2 mission and had its sixth successful flight on 26 March. LMV3 was earlier known as Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk III (GSLV Mk III).

Bharti Enterprises (Airtel) is also a shareholder in British startup company OneWeb and this was the last installment of OneWeb’s 36 satellites. So far Oneweb had 582 satellites in the orbit of space and now after the successful mission of ISRO, India’s Bharti Enterprises and UK government-backed UK company Oneweb has 618 satellites orbiting in space. The OneWeb Gen-1 satellites are in the 150 kg class. Of the 36 satellites launched by ISRO on March 26, OneWeb was the 18th launch. According to OneWeb, through these satellites OneWeb is taking important steps in providing global coverage including India. OneWeb’s satellite launches will provide secure connectivity to various enterprises in India, including schools, villages, municipal corporations, towns, and areas where access is currently difficult. The constellation consists of 648 individual satellites, of which 588 are active satellites operating in 12 planes equally separated and at an altitude of about 1200 kilometers above the Earth’s surface. Each aircraft is separated by 4 kilometers in altitude to prevent inter-aircraft collisions. The payload is a bent-pipe system operating in the Ku and K bands. The forward link receives the Ka-band signal from the gateway via the satellite’s antenna. According to ISRO, the return link receives Ku-band signals from the user terminals (UTs) through the antenna of the satellite.

OneWeb had a contract with ISRO’s commercial arm ‘NewSpace India Limited’ (NSIL) to launch a total of 72 satellites for a launch fee of over Rs 1,000 crore, one of which was completed last year, when LMV3 ISRO had launched 36 satellites of Oneweb on October 23, 2022, from the rocket itself. Now again, for the second time, 36 satellites of the same private company have been successfully launched from this heavy rocket and thus the success rate of LMV3 is 100%. The LMV3 is a three-stage rocket, with the first stage powered by liquid fuel, two strap-on motors powered by solid fuel, the second powered by liquid fuel and a cryogenic engine. This heavy rocket of ISRO has the capacity to carry 10 tonnes of weight to LEO and four tonnes to Geo Transfer Orbit (GTO). According to ISRO chairman S Somnath, the LMV3 rocket was fitted with S200 motors similar to those used in the launchers required for the Gaganyaan mission. The LVM3-M3 rocket also has S200 motors, which have been designed with increased margin and characteristics and are compatible with the Gaganyaan configuration. According to the ISRO chief, there are many more improvements in this rocket, which are aimed at making it human-rated in other stages and systems as well.

After this successful mission of ISRO for OneWeb, the total number of foreign satellites launched by India in space since 1999 has increased to 422. Regarding the future missions of ISRO, the ISRO chief says that ISRO scientists are preparing for the commercial launch of a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle in April and are gearing up for the next launch campaign soon. ISRO’s plan to launch the Chandrayaan-3 mission to the moon in June next year is also being materialised, under which a crew of three members will be sent to a 400-km orbit for a three-day mission in the Gaganyaan mission. The mission is targeted to be launched in the fourth quarter of 2024. S Somnath says that he is very happy to see the progress being made towards the Gaganyaan mission. India has proved itself as a strong center in front of the world through excellent experiments and success at many levels in making its entry into space for a long time on its own. India has given a better and safer option in the market of commercial satellite launch to the whole world through continuous high level work especially in the field of science as compared to other countries of the world. This is the reason that the trust of many countries and space companies is now increasing on the commercial branch of ISRO in the matter of experiments in space at the global level.

However, the way ISRO is continuously hoisting the flag of success in the world of space, India’s dominance and respect in the world of space science is continuously increasing. Due to such successful missions of ISRO, ISRO will not only get economic benefits in the future, the whole world will also see the power of Indian scientists in the world of space science and due to this even small countries of the world will be attracted towards India for their missions, which will certainly This augurs well for the Indian economy. What ISRO has now achieved through the latest flight of LVM-3 with 36 satellites of OneWeb has once again established India’s importance in the eyes of the world in terms of space experiments. On one hand, while the space missions of many countries, including America, have been facing setbacks and their space program is lagging behind, ISRO is on the path of continuous success. This is the reason why the world is now turning to ISRO with great hopes for launching its satellites into space.

Yogesh Kumar Goyal

(The author is a senior journalist and a well-known strategic affairs analyst)