OneWeb

Update: Launch 19 will add another 16 satellites to OneWeb’s first-generation constellation, bringing the total number of satellites in-orbit to 634.

Launch 18 which launched on Mar 25, 2023, added another 36 satellites to OneWeb’s first-generation constellation, bringing the total number of satellites in-orbit to 618.

Launch 17 which launched on Mar 9, 2023, added another 40 satellites to OneWeb’s first-generation constellation, bringing the total number of satellites in-orbit to 582.

OneWeb is a space-based internet company owned by the British government and an Indian-British company since July 2020.

Based in London, the company is building a satellite constellation with the goal of providing high-speed broadband services to people around the globe.

Originally named WorldVu, the first six test OneWebs of a then-planned 1,240 satellite constellation were launched from South America in February 2019 on a Russian Soyuz rocket purchased by Europe's Arianespace launch services corporation.

After the first mission, operational OneWeb satellites began launching in batches of 34 or 36 on Soyuz rockets provided by Arianespace and Starsem, the part of Roscosmos (the Russian space agency) that handles commercial flights of the Soyuz.

All of those Arianespace-Starsem missions have launched either from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan or the Vostochny Cosmodrome in eastern Russia.

In May 2020, while in bankruptcy and before its purchase by the British government, OneWeb asked the Federal Communications Commission in the United States (a controlling authority for OneWeb) to increase the number of satellites in the constellation from 1,240 to 47,844.

In January 2021, OneWeb amended the request down to just 6,372 satellites for the constellation.

The entire OneWeb network will operate in a 1,200 km orbit and will provide global internet service. However, the British government has been quick to limit access to the service.

Photo credit: OneWeb (Early 2020)

The Launch Vehicle Mark 3 (LVM3), is a three-stage medium-lift launch vehicle developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Primarily designed to launch communication satellites into geostationary orbit, it is also identified as the launch vehicle for crewed missions under the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme and dedicated science missions like Chandrayaan-2. The GSLV Mk III has a higher payload capacity than the similarly named GSLV Mk II.

After several delays and a sub-orbital test flight on 18 December 2014, ISRO successfully conducted the first orbital test launch of GSLV Mk III on 5 June 2017 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Andhra Pradesh.

In June 2018, the Union Cabinet approved ₹43.38 billion (US$540 million) to build 10 GSLV Mk III rockets over a five-year period.

The GSLV Mk III launched CARE, India's space capsule recovery experiment module, Chandrayaan-2, India's second lunar mission, and will be used to carry Gaganyaan, the first crewed mission under Indian Human Spaceflight Programme. In October 2021, UK-based global communication satellite provider OneWeb entered into an agreement with ISRO to launch OneWeb satellites aboard the GSLV Mk III along with the PSLV.

Image: ISRO

The Second Launch Pad was built between March 1999 and December 2003.

It was used for the first time on May 5th, 2005 and can launch three different types of rockets: the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), the Geostationary Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mk-II, and the GSLV Mk-III.

The pad has launched several important missions. One of them was Chandrayaan-1, India's first Moon mission and the flight that discovered water on the lunar surface.

The pad is also the one India plans to use for its upcoming human space program.

Satish Dhawan Space Centre

The Satish Dhawan Space Centre, or Sriharikota Range, is a rocket launch center operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

It is located in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh and was chosen for its remote location. The center launched its first suborbital mission in 1971 and first orbital flight on August 10th, 1979.

The spaceport received its current name in 2005 when it was named in honor of Satish Dhawan, the former head of the ISRO.

The facility has two launch pads and will be the base of India's upcoming human spaceflight program.

Image credit: ISRO