ISRO Preparing To Launch 236 OneWeb Satellites, PSLV-C55 Mission In March: Chairman S Somanath

S Somanath also said that the space agency is preparing for the landing demonstration of its reusable launch vehicle. He stated that the year 2023 is going to be filled with developments for Gaganyaan

ISRO Chairman S Somanath said Friday that GSLV Mark III will launch 236 OneWeb satellites, around mid-March. He added that ISRO is currently preparing for the launch of the second commercial mission of LVM3. 

After the successful completion of the SSLV-D2 mission on Friday, February 10, 2023, S Somanath, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced that the Indian space agency is preparing for the next launch of GSLV Mark III, or Launch Vehicle Mark III (LVM3). He said that GSLV Mark III will launch 236 OneWeb satellites, around mid-March, news agency ANI reported.

Somanath added that ISRO is currently preparing for the launch of the second commercial mission of LVM3. 

Andhra Pradesh | Currently, we are preparing for the next launch of GSLV Mark III leading to the launch of OneWeb India 236 satellites. So we are preparing for that launch. This launch will take place around mid-March: S Somanath, ISRO chief pic.twitter.com/eLVc4mEZVe

— ANI (@ANI) February 10, 2023

On October 23, 2022, ISRO  successfully launched 36 OneWeb satellites. The satellites were successfully placed into low-Earth orbit, as part of the OneWeb India-1 mission or LVM3 M2 mission. This marked the first commercial mission of LVM3, India’s heaviest launch vehicle. The OneWeb satellites, meant for global connectivity needs, were launched from the Second Launch Pad, Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. 

SSLV-D2 was the second developmental flight of ISRO's smallest launch vehicle, the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV), and placed three satellites, namely EOS-07 (Earth Observation Satellite-07), Janus-1 and AzaadiSAT-2 into a 450-kilometre orbit. 

PSLV-C55 to be launched by the end of March

Somanath also said that ISRO is also preparing to begin the launch campaign of PSLV-C55, the 56th launch of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). The mission will be conducted in collaboration with New Space India Limited (NSIL), the commercial arm of ISRO. 

PSLV-C55 will most probably be launched by the end of March. Somanath said that the launch campaign will be started on Friday, February 10, by placing the rocket at the launch pedestal in a new facility.

Landing demonstration of reusable launch vehicle

The ISRO Chief further said that the space agency is also preparing for the landing demonstration of its reusable launch vehicle. He added that currently, the teams are at the landing site of Chitradurga, Karnataka. 

Somanath said Friday that ISRO is hopeful that everything will be fine in a few days and the space agency will be able to do the landing demonstration of its reusable launch vehicle.

At the India International Science Festival (IISF) 2023, Somanath said ISRO intends to develop a Next-Gen Launch Vehicle (NGLV), through public and private partnership. The potential uses of the launch vehicle will be launching multiple communication satellites, deep space missions, will be used for future human spaceflight missions, cargo missions, and to send satellite constellations to Earth orbit. The rocket will be modular, cost-effective and reusable. 

"We want the future of India to build rockets for space," Somanath said. 

Year 2023 to be filled with new developments for Gaganyaan Programme: ISRO Chief

The ISRO Chief stated Friday that the year 2023 is going to be filled with a lot of new developments and activities specifically leading to the Gaganyaan Programme.

ISRO has commenced recovery trials for the Gaganyaan mission. On February 7, 2023, ISRO, along with the Indian Navy, conducted the recovery trials. The trials were performed in the Indian Navy’s Water Survival Test Facility (WSTF) located in Kochi. 

The Gaganyaan mission will be carried out in three phases, namely, Gaganyaan 1, Gaganyaan 2 and Gaganyaan 3, which will be India’s first human spaceflight mission. ISRO will send Indian astronauts to space for a three-day mission, as part of Gaganyaan 3. They will return to Earth by splashing down in Indian waters. A team will recover the astronauts from the crew module. The safe recovery of the crew marks the final step of any successful human spaceflight mission.

Therefore, recovery trials for the Gaganyaan Programme are very important. 

The Indian Navy will lead the overall recovery operations of the Gaganyaan Crew Module.