Countdown begins tonight for launch of 36 satellites on ISRO's heaviest rocket LVM3
Bengaluru, Oct 21: Shortly after Friday midnight, the countdown will begin for the launch of 36 broadband communication satellites on board ISRO's heaviest rocket Launch Vehicle Mark 3 (LVM3) from Sriharikota spaceport.
The launch of 'LVM3 - M2/OneWeb India-1 Mission' is scheduled at 0007 hours IST on October 23 (midnight of October 22).
OneWeb is a private satellite communications company. India's Bharti Enterprises is a major investor and shareholder in OneWeb.
It will mark the launcher's entry into the global commercial launch service market, according to the Bengaluru-headquartered national space agency.
"A 24-hour countdown is slated to begin at 0007 hours on October 22," an Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) official said on Friday afternoon.
NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), a central public sector enterprise under the Department of Space, had earlier signed two launch service contracts with the London-headquartered Network Access Associated Limited (OneWeb) for launching OneWeb LEO (low earth orbit) satellites on board ISRO's LVM3.
"It is (the) first LVM3 dedicated commercial launch on demand through NSIL," NSIL, the space agency's commercial arm, had said.
"Another set of 36 OneWeb satellites will be launched by LVM3 in the first half of next year," an NSIL official told PTI.
"This contract with M/s OneWeb is a historic milestone for NSIL and ISRO, as LVM3, is making its entry into the global commercial launch service market," according to ISRO.
The newest rocket is capable of launching a four tonne class of satellite to Geosynchronous Transfer orbit (GTO).
LVM3 is a three-stage vehicle with two solid motor strap-ons, a liquid propellant core stage and a cryogenic stage.
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Sabarimala gold loss: How did the accused reach Rahul's home, asks Vijayan
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday hit back at Rahul Gandhi for targeting the ruling CPI(M) over the Sabarimala gold loss case during a poll campaign, questioning how the accused in the case had managed to reach the Congress leader's home.
The Marxist veteran was apparently referring to a widely circulated purported photograph in which the prime accused in the Sabarimala gold loss cases, Unnikrishnan Potty, accompanied by some senior Congress leaders, was seen with Sonia Gandhi at her residence in Delhi.
He also said people have already given a reply to Rahul, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, on this matter.
The CM's reaction came a day after Rahul sang a line from a popular parody song about CPI(M) leaders' alleged roles in the gold theft at the Sabarimala temple while addressing a corner meeting as part of the assembly polls campaign in Pathanamthitta district.
As he sang the line "swarnam kattathu aarappa" (who stole the gold of Ayyappa) from a song used by the Congress-led UDF to target the ruling Left during the local body polls a few months ago, at the meeting in Pathanamthitta -- the district where the hill shrine of Lord Ayyappa is located-- the crowd cheered Rahul.
Soon after Gandhi targeted the Left party over the gold loss issue, CPI (M) activists began a social media campaign making allegations against his mother and former party chief Sonia Gandhi in connection with the matter.
While replying to a question regarding this, CM Vijayan said the Congress leader already got a befitting reply and should he also repeat the same.
"If he thinks about how all those who were involved in the stealing had reached his home...then he will get a reply. Anyway, we don't have any such flaws," Vijayan added.
Attacking the Left and the BJP over the Sabarimala gold loss issue, Rahul Gandhi on Monday had said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had forgotten about what happened in Sabarimala, during his visit to Palakkad as part of election campaign.
Rahul claimed that the prime minister remained silent to avoid damaging the LDF.
He had also said that a UDF government would ensure that those responsible for alleged irregularities related to the temple are punished.
