BENGALURU: Space PSU NewSpace India Limited (Nsil), which has a contract to put into orbit US’ commercial satellite “BlueBird Block-2” or “BlueBird-6” through Isro’s LVM-3, will implement the launch on Dec 24.Isro Friday confirmed the dates, and said: “The launch of LVM3-M6 is scheduled on Dec 2025 at 8.54 am from the second launch pad (SLP), Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota.” While ISRO chairman V Narayanan has been speaking about a Dec launch, the space agency, which had initially targeted Dec 15 pushed it to Dec 24. As per AST SpaceMobile, its next-generation BlueBird satellites are designed to deliver 24/7 high-speed cellular broadband to everyday smartphones worldwide. “These advanced satellites feature nearly 2,400 square feet arrays, which will make them the largest commercial phased arrays ever deployed in low Earth orbit, surpassing the previous record held by our first-generation BlueBirds at 693 square feet,” the firm said, describing the latest satellite. While the PSLV, which has delivered more than 400 foreign satellites into orbit, had been DoS and Isro’s mainstay for commercial launches until recently, the LVM-3 made its commercial debut on Oct 23, 2022 by putting a 5,796kg satellite into orbit. Following this, the launch vehicle has been used in multiple commercial missions.The BlueBird Block-2 satellite which weighs 6,500kg, will be part of a constellation of satellites AST has in place. “With our proprietary AST5000 application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), each satellite will support 10 GHz of processing bandwidth and peak speeds of 120 Mbps per coverage cell,” the firm has said.Narayanan has said more than once that the mission shows how India, which once relied on other countries, including the US for its space programme, has grown formidable enough to launch a large satellite from a country considered as the leader in space.
