India's 'Baahubali' rocket, Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM3), launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) demonstrated heavy-lift performance, placing the heaviest satellite ever launched from India, US' BlueBird Block-2 satellite in low-earth orbit on Wednesday morning.
Sharing the joy, ISRO Chairman Dr V Narayanan, lauded the launch vehicle for 100 per cent reliability.
"Launch vehicle has successfully and precisely injected the BlueBird Block 2 communication satellite in the intended orbit. This is the first dedicated commercial launch for a customer from the USA, that is AST SpaceMobile... This is our 104th launch from Sriharikota, also the ninth successful mission of the LVM-3 launch vehicle, demonstrating its 100 per cent reliability," said Dr V Narayanan, Secretary, Department of Space.
India has successfully launched 434 satellites for 34 countries.
LVM3-M6 / BlueBird Block-2 Mission
At 8:55 am, the LVM3-M6 lifted off from the second launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota.
Fifteen minutes later, the spacecraft BlueBird Block-2, riding piggyback on the rocket, got separated and reached its intended orbit at an altitude of about 520 km with minimum disruptions.
"This is the heaviest satellite ever lifted from Indian soil using an Indian launcher. This is also the third fully commercial mission of LVM-3, and the vehicle has demonstrated its excellent track record including the Chandrayaan-2, Chandrayaan-3, and two OneWeb missions and CMS3 satellites this has injected in the orbit... This is one of the best performances of any launch vehicle in the global arena," ISRO Chief said.
This gives us great confidence for the Gaganyaan programme, the chief added.
LVM3 Past Missions
LVM3 has a 100 per cent success rate across all its eight previous missions, including Chandrayaan-2, Chandrayaan-3, and two OneWeb missions carrying 72 satellites. The previous launch of LVM3 was the LVM3-M5/CMS-03 mission, that was successfully accomplished last month, on November 2.
"This is the first time we have a back-to-back mission of LVM3 within 52 days. It is a great achievement," said ISRO Chief.
What Makes LVM3 Special: Specifications
LVM3 is a three-stage launch vehicle comprising two solid strap-on motors (S200), a liquid core stage (L110), and a cryogenic upper stage (C25). Weighing 640 tonnes, the launcher stands 43.5 metres tall and has a payload capability of 4,200 kg to Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).
The S200 solid motor is among the largest solid boosters in the world with 204 tonnes of solid propellant, according to the ISRO. The liquid L110 stage uses a twin liquid engine configuration with 115 tonnes of liquid propellant, while the C25 Cryogenic upper stage is configured with the fully indigenous high thrust cryogenic engine (CE20) with a propellant loading of 28 tonnes.
