The Indian space agency this morning launched a rocket carrying 36 satellites from the Sriharikota spaceport near Chennai. The Launch Vehicle Mark-III rocket lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center as part of the OneWeb India-2 mission.
The OneWeb group’s satellites in the UK will be deployed to low Earth orbit and help the company launch global services later this year.
We have a lift off!
Thanks to our colleagues from @isro And @NSIL_India for a successful launch. If you haven’t already, make sure to follow us for more updates throughout the rest of the mission.#OneWebLaunch18 🚀 pic.twitter.com/TsYbCZzAnP
— OneWeb (@OneWeb) March 26, 2023
“We’ve launched! Thanks to our colleagues at @isro and @NSIL_India for a successful launch,” tweeted OneWeb, a global communications network that enables connectivity for governments and businesses.
The success of the commercial launch will also position ISRO as a viable service provider for companies seeking to launch their satellites.
This is ISRO’s second missile launch this year. With this launch, OneWeb has 616 of its satellites in orbit.
“This mission marks OneWeb’s second satellite deployment from India, highlighting the collaboration between the British and Indian aerospace industries,” OneWeb had previously said.
In its initial deployment, ISRO had launched 36 satellites from OneWeb by October 23, 2022.