ISRO's LVM3 rocket carrying 36 satellites blasts off from Sriharikota
Sriharikota (AP) (PTI): ISRO's heaviest rocket LVM3 carrying 36 satellites belonging to UK-based OneWeb Group lifted off from this space port on Sunday.
The second dedicated mission for NewSpace India Ltd, the commercial arm of Indian Space Research Organisation is part of the agreement signed with Network Access Associates Ltd, United Kingdom (OneWeb Group Company) for launch of 72 satellites into Low-Earth orbits(LEO).
The first set of 36 satellites of OneWeb Group company was launched on October 23, 2022 by ISRO.
At the end of the 24.5 hour countdown, the 43.5 metre tall rocket blasted off at 9 am from the second launch pad here, about 135 km from Chennai.
Bharti Enterprises is a major investor in OneWeb group, which is engaged in the implementation of the constellation of low earth satellites.
It is a global communication network powered from space, enabling connectivity for governments and businesses.
The launch was the 18th for OneWeb Group company while for ISRO, it would be the second mission in 2023 after the successful launch of SSLV/D2-EOS07 mission undertaken in February.
With today's mission, OneWeb would have 616 satellites in its fleet which would be more than enough to launch global services later this year.
The mission marks OneWeb's second satellite deployment from India, highlighting the collaboration between the United Kingdom and Indian space industries, OneWeb said.
Across India, OneWeb would bring secured solutions not only to enterprises but also to towns, villages, municipalities and schools including the hardest to reach areas across the country, the company said.
The first set of satellite separation (comprising four of the 36 satellites) is scheduled to take place around 20 minutes after lift-off. The remaining satellites are expected to be placed into the 450 km circular orbits in sometime.
The satellites after being placed into the low-earth orbits would be divided among 12 planes at an altitude of about 1,200 km from Earth's surface. Each plane would be separated in an altitude by 4 km to prevent inter-plane collision, ISRO said.
This is the sixth flight of LVM3 which was earlier known as the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle MkIII (GSLVMkIII) with a cryogenic upper stage. It had five consecutive missions including the Chandrayaan-2.
CONGRATULATIONS @isro!!#ISRO launches LVM3-M3/Oneweb India-2 Mission from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, #Sriharikota.#LVM3M3/#Oneweb pic.twitter.com/zz8BLRtqnP
— Doordarshan National दूरदर्शन नेशनल (@DDNational) March 26, 2023
#WATCH | Andhra Pradesh: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launches India’s largest LVM3 rocket carrying 36 satellites from Sriharikota
— ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2023
(Source: ISRO) pic.twitter.com/jBC5bVvmTy
Andhra Pradesh | The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to launch India’s largest LVM3 rocket carrying 36 satellites. It is set to lift off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at 9:00 am. pic.twitter.com/ucXzCRrGeT
— ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2023
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
SWR announces special trains for passengers stranded by large-scale IndiGo cancellations
Bengaluru (PTI): The South Western Railway on Saturday announced a series of special trains, in coordination with Central, South Eastern and Southern Railways, to clear stranded passengers following large-scale IndiGo flight cancellations across the country.
The special services will operate between December 6 and 10 on high-demand routes, including Bengaluru–Chennai, Bengaluru–Pune, Yesvantpur–Hazrat Nizamuddin, Shalimar–Yelahanka and Ernakulam–Yelahanka, officials said.
According to an official statement, SWR will run Train No. 06255/06256 between Chennai Egmore and KSR Bengaluru, 06257/06258 between Bengaluru and MGR Chennai Central, 06259/06260 between Yesvantpur and Hazrat Nizamuddin, and 06263/06264 between Bengaluru and Pune.
ALSO READ: Indigo flights chaos: SCR to run special trains to clear passenger rush
Central Railway will operate Train No. 01413/01414 between Pune and Bengaluru, while South Eastern Railway will run Train No. 08073/08074 between Shalimar and Yelahanka. Southern Railway will operate Train No. 06147/06148 between Ernakulam and Yelahanka, the statement said.
Railways has advised passengers to check updated timings on its official channels and arrive early at stations.
For at least five days in a row, IndiGo flight operations have been significantly disrupted, with a large number of cancellations and delays causing hardships to thousands of passengers. In many cases, baggage has been misplaced.
