'The LVM3 rocket will orbit one Block 2 BlueBird satellite in Low Earth Orbit.'
Come May, Indian rocket LVM3 will orbit an American satellite weighing six ton in a Low Earth Orbit, said a top official of NewSpace India Ltd (NSIL), the commercial arm of India's Department of Space.
The satellite Block 2 BlueBird belongs to the US based cellular broadband network player AST SpaceMobile.
"The LVM3 rocket will orbit one Block 2 BlueBird satellite in Low Earth Orbit. The mission is slated for May this year," disclosed D Radhakrishnan, NSIL Chairman and Managing Director.
Radhakrishnan also said discussions are on for launching AST SpaceMobile's other satellites.
The company plans to launch about 50 satellites.
The American company will be the second satellite broadband customer orbiting the satellites with the LVM3 rocket.
In 2022 and 2023 Europe's Eutelsat OneWeb used two LVM3 rockets to orbit a total of 72 satellites.
AST SpaceMobile said it is building the first and only global cellular broadband network in space to offer broadband connectivity direct to mobile devices based on its intellectual property and patent portfolio.
The company plans to have a constellation of over 50 satellites to be launched by various rockets.
Meanwhile Indian Space Research Organisation is readying its LVM3 rocket for the May mission.
On March 15, 2025 ISRO Chairman Dr V Narayanan flagged off the cryogenic upper stage of LVM3 rocket from the ISRO Propulsion Complex in Tamil Nadu.
That apart, NSIL's Radhakrishnan said the company has inked launch contracts for other Indian rockets -- the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) for 2026-2027 and for Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) with Space Machines Company, an Australian-Indian in-space servicing firm.
The SSLV rocket will orbit Space Machines Company's second Optimus spacecraft weighing 450kg, the largest Australian-designed and built spacecraft so far.
Venkatachari Jagannathan can be reached at venkatacharijagannathan@gmail.com
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
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