NEW DELHI: India launched its heaviest communication satellite on Wednesday, marking the latest feat in the country’s efforts to establish itself in the global space industry.
The Indian Space Research Organization launched a LVM-3 rocket carrying the BlueBird Block-2 satellite, which weighs over 6 tonnes, from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota island off the Bay of Bengal at 8:55 a.m. local time.
Codenamed LVM3-M6, the mission was the ISRO’s 100th orbital launch and involved deploying the US-built satellite in low Earth orbit.
“A significant stride in India’s space sector,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on X soon after the mission was declared successful by the ISRO.
“It strengthens India’s heavy-lift launch capability and reinforces our growing role in the global commercial launch market.”
The BlueBird Block-2 satellite was the “heaviest payload ever launched” from Indian soil, breaking a record set by the ISRO only last month, when it launched the CMS-03 communication satellite, which weighs about 4.4 tonnes.
“The successful LVM3-M6 launch of ISRO’s heaviest commercial payload to date marks a quantum leap in India’s launch capabilities, pushing the boundaries of LVM3’s performance in low Earth orbit,” Lt. Gen. (Retd) A. K. Bhatt, director-general of the Indian Space Association, said in a statement.
The mission exemplified the Indian space agency’s capability to handle “heavier payloads that cater to the global demand for advanced satellite constellations,” he added.
Under Modi, India has been making breakthroughs in the space industry.
For the past few years, the government has been creating the environment and long-term investment for the industry to flourish and involve the private sector. The ISRO has achieved significant milestones to add to India’s status as an emerging space superpower.
The achievements include a successful space docking mission in January. And the ISRO’s Chandrayaan-3 moon rover making history in 2023 by landing on the lunar surface. This made India the first country to land near the lunar south pole and the fourth to land on the moon — after the US, Soviet Union and China.
The ISRO is planning to use a modified version of the LVM-3 rocket for its future space missions, including India’s first human spaceflight program, the Gaganyaan mission, in 2027.
Its long-term space ambitions include building a modular space facility, the Bharatiya Antariksh Station, by 2035, and sending the first Indian to the moon by 2040.
