Finally, the Launch Vehicle Mark-III for the OneWeb satellite constellation has been wheeled out on the launch pad by the Indian Space Research Organization (Isro). The launch is slated to occur on October 23 at 12:07 a.m. from Sriharikota’s Satish Dhawan Space Center.
Since the rocket would place the satellites in the Low Earth Orbit rather than the geosynchronous orbit, Isro has changed the name of the GSLV-MkIII to LVM-3. The satellites will be launched as part of two launch service agreements with M/s Network Access Associated Limited (M/s OneWeb).
OneWeb and India’s New Space India Limited (NSIL) came to an arrangement when Russia refused to provide launch services to the United Kingdom due to sanctions imposed by western nations as a result of its invasion of Ukraine.
When the Russian space agency presented demands to the UK government in order to launch the satellite, the Soyuz rocket was wheeled out on the launch pad at the Russia-operated Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
A promise that OneWeb satellites won’t be used for military purposes was among the requests, as was the UK government’s withdrawal as a stakeholder from OneWeb.
Since then, OneWeb has collaborated on launch services not only with SpaceX but also with the Indian space agency.
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