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
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England sticking with Key, McCullum and Stokes despite Ashes humbling
London (AP): England is not sacking anybody following the 4-1 Ashes loss in Australia.
A review of the tour by the England and Wales Cricket Board, announced within hours of the final match in January, was concluded on Monday. Firing people would “be the easy thing to do,” ECB chief executive Richard Gould said but he insisted, "This is not the time to throw everything out."
Managing director Rob Key, coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes kept their jobs after the best England side to go to Australia in 14 years lost the Ashes in 11 days with two games to spare.
“Moving people on can sometimes be the easy thing to do. That's not the route that we're going to take,” Gould said. “I've seen the driving ambition and determination that we're lucky enough to have within our leadership group to take the lessons from the Ashes and move forward.”
Gould previously was the chief executive of Bristol City soccer club and said the ECB would not follow the same route as soccer's hire-and-fire culture.
“Cricket is a very unique sport in that it takes a team of leadership ... it's not like football where there's a single point of failure or success with a manager," he said. He added the ECB would not “select or deselect management based on a popularity campaign.”
The main criticisms of England's tour were poor preparation, player misbehavior, and selection mistakes.
At a press conference at Lord's, Gould and Key said McCullum and Stokes have not had a “bust up,” they did not want McCullum to “completely change” but “to evolve,” the behavior of some players was “unprofessional,” there will be more consequences for underperforming, and a commitment to “better long-term planning” ahead of major test series.
Some changes were already implemented for the Twenty20 World Cup, where England reached the semifinals. Gould implied that performance saved McCullum.
Key acknowledged that England supporters would be disappointed to see the management team go unpunished.
“I know people want punishment and that people then should be sacked for that,” Key said. “That doesn't mean we don't feel like we've gone through some serious pain: Brendon, myself, Ben. It's been as tough a time as I think I've had.”
