Sunday, 26th March, marked an important event for ISRO and OneWeb, as ISRO had its second commercial launch of LVM-3, which placed 36 more OneWeb satellites in space.
To help you understand, ISRO or the Indian Space Research organisation is India's primary space agency, while OneWeb is a London-based communications company focused on building broadband satellite Internet services. It's only been three years since the country decided to open this sector to global players. While India might be a contender in terms of space-faring nations, in the commercial market, it holds only 2%. However, with OneWeb's 36 satellite launches in October 2022, India's entry into the commercial market has begun.
OneWeb Partnership:
As per the news, OneWeb earlier planned to work with the Russian space agency to launch its satellites, but with the Ukraine-Russia war, the plan got cancelled. The executive chairman of OneWeb, Sunil Bharti Mittal, praised India for step-up when needed the most. Further, Mittal believes that ISRO has the potential to be the premier space launch centre in the world! Well, with this India will surely be able to increase its share in the global commercial space.
ISRO's Commercial Launches:
Even Mittal believes that with ISRO's potential, India can become a crucial competitor for SpaceX in this marketplace. It was the sixth launch for LVM-3, India's heaviest rocket, and the second launch for placing the satellites in the LEO (low earth orbit). With around 384 foreign satellites launched by ISRO, it has done around 10 commercial missions, which will surely increase in the coming years.
Future Plans:
The government is on the run to increase the 2% share to 10% by 2030. As per the revenues generated, it is definite that India will be increasing commercial launches. With the New Space India Limited, the commercial arm of ISRO, seeing an increase in revenue from Rs. 1713 crores in FY 2021-22 to an estimated Rs. 3509 crores in FY 2023-24, the future looks promising for India in terms of commercial launches.
Overall, with the estimations made and the results generated, it can be assured the future is bright for India concerning commercial launches. To stay updated with ISRO's future commercial launches and partnerships, follow our website for more updates.
- Charu Kapoor
