Shillong, March 26: The second batch of 36 satellites for the UK-based OneWeb was successfully launched by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on Sunday.
OneWeb tweeted, “We have lift off! Thanks to our colleagues at @isro and @NSIL_India for a successful launch. If you don’t already, make sure to follow us for more updates throughout the rest of the mission”.
The UK-based business will launch this group of satellites for the 18th time overall, third time this year, and second time with ISRO. Also, this will finish off the business’s first-generation LEO (low earth orbit) network, allowing it to start providing global coverage in 2023.
These 36 satellites arrived in India on February 16 in preparation for launch. The satellites were likewise encased on March 15.
The Launch Vehicle Mark-III of ISRO launched the communications satellites (LVM3). OneWeb’s first 36 satellites were successfully launched by the Indian space agency in October last year from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota.
A week later, ISRO successfully completed the flight acceptance hot test of the CE-20 engine for the second batch of satellites that were anticipated to be launched into low-Earth orbit at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu’s propulsion plant.
OneWeb claimed after its initial launch that its collaboration with NSIL and ISRO proved its commitment to supplying connectivity to all of India by 2023.