GSLV Mk III to be put into commercial market in Oct

BENGALURU: Come October, India will put one more of its rockets -- the medium lift Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III (GSLV MkIII) -- into the commercial launch market.

Since 1999, India has launched 345 foreign satellites belonging to 36 countries using its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket.

Sometime during the third week of October 2022, ISRO rocket GSLV MkIII will fly with 36 satellites of OneWeb, an Indo-UK joint venture satellite communications company, said an Indian space sector official. “The total launch mass will be six tonne,” an official said.

The proposed mission has several firsts for the Indian space sector. They are, the first commercial launch of GSLV MkIII; first time an Indian rocket will be ferrying a payload of about six tonne; first time OneWeb is using an Indian rocket to put its satellites into orbit; first commercial launch of GSLV MkIII contracted by NewSpace India Ltd, the commercial arm of Indian space sector and first time GSLV MkIII or its variants is being used for launching satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). Another set of 36 satellites from OneWeb is planned to be put into orbit in January 2023.

“One additional launch will take place this year and three more are targeted for early next year to complete the constellation,” OneWeb had said.

The satellite company plans to have a constellation of 650 satellites in low earth orbit to offer communication services. The GSLV MkIII with a lift off mass of 640 ton is a three stage rocket powered by solid, liquid and cryogenic engines.

The rocket was designed to carry four ton satellites into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) and about 10 tons to LEO.