ISRO's LVM 3

1. Context

2. About LVM 3

• LVM3 is a dedicated commercial satellite mission of New Space India Limited (NSIL), a central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) under the Department of Space, Government of India.
• The 43.5 meter LVM3 weighing around 644 tonnes carried 36 satellites weighing 5,796 kg or about 5.7 tonnes.
• With this launch, LVM3 has made its entry into the global commercial launch service market.
• The LVM3 was conceived primarily for launching geostationary satellites with a payload capacity of 4T, which can be used for launching 6T payloads for LEO.
• The mission is very critical to meet the customer's expectations to launch 36 satellites in 9 phases with precision. The mission was designed in such a way that the C25 stage was to handle this operation using in-house built inertial navigation systems.
• It was the sixth launch of India’s heaviest rocket LVM-3 – which includes the launch of Chandrayaan-2 in 2019 – and the second one where it demonstrated the capability of launching multiple satellites in low earth orbit (LEO).

Image Source: The Indian Express

3. About One Web

• OneWeb is a joint venture between India's Bharati Enterprises and the U.K. government.
• The eighteenth launch of OneWeb satellites brought the constellation’s total number of satellites to 618.
• The company intends to use 588 active satellites in its first-generation constellation to provide global connectivity at high speed and low latency. 

4. How did ISRO’s OneWeb launch happen?

• OneWeb was initially supposed to launch its satellites through the Russian Space agency.
• It cancelled the plan after the agency halted the launch amid the Russia-Ukraine war seeking an assurance from the UK government-backed company that the satellites wouldn't be used against them and that the British government would sell its stake.
• India stepped up when we needed them the most. We had a big setback with the Russia Ukraine war-six launches that were contracted and fully paid for was taken out.
• Now, not only OneWeb is struggling to get the money back, but it has also lost 36 satellites, three very valuable, and importantly lost nearly a year.
• Europe's Arianespace was not viable as it had retired its workhorse Ariane5 rocket and there were significant delays with Ariane6.
• SpaceX, despite developing a similar satellite-based network named Starlink, launched some of the OneWeb satellites. And India, through two LVM3 launches, has put in orbit 72 OneWeb satellites.

5. India's plan to increase the Commercial launches

• The launches not only established LVM3 as a commercial vehicle propelling ISRO's entry into the commercial heavier launch market, But it also earned the agency upwards of Rs. 1,000 core.
• The service provided to OneWeb, for which the space agency had to move around a few of its missions, ended up earning it one of the highest revenues.
• And over the years there has been an increase in funds that the space agency has generated.
• The government plans to increase India's 2% share in the commercial market to 10% by 2030 through commercial launches by ISRO and launches offered by private companies like Skyroot and Agnikul, which are in the process of developing their own launch vehicles.
• Keeping the commercial sector in mins. ISRO has also developed small satellite launch vehicles (SSLV), which are meant to provide on-demand launch services commercially.
• It has a low turn around time of days and costs much more than the current workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).
• Two development flights of the SSLV have been completed, One successful, and one partially successful and it has been inducted into the ISRO fleet.
• Till date, ISRO has launched 384 foreign satellites from the least 36 countries, with at least 10 dedicated commercial missions and several other Indian missions where they were carried as co-passenger satellites.
• The highest number of these commercial launches have been by companies from the United States.

6. Report of the parliamentary standing committee on the budget of the space agency

• A report from the parliamentary standing committee on the budget of the space agency said that there has been an increase in the revenue generated by ISRO’s commercial arm New Space India Limited, created in 2019.
• As per the report, revenue generated by NSIL has increased from Rs 1,731 crores in 2021-22 to a projected Rs 3,509 crores in 2023-24. 
• This was an increase of 100% and the report added that The Committee appreciates the achievements of NSIL in such a short period of time and recommends the Department provide all support to NSIL to enable it to act as an agency of international character and quality.
• But it is not just the commercial arm, the revenue generated by the Department has also increased.
• The committee noted that the revenue generated by the Department of Space increased from Rs 929 crore in 2020-21 to Rs 2,780 in 2022-23.
• This is an increase of nearly 200% and with the budget allocation for 2023-24 being the least in the last three years.

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