In a historic Christmas Eve mission, ISRO’s heaviest rocket, LVM3-M6, on Wednesday successfully placed a US communication satellite into low Earth orbit, marking the heaviest payload ever deployed to LEO by an LVM3 launch from Indian soil. The Bluebird Block-2 mission is part of a global LEO (Low Earth Orbit) constellation to provide direct-to-mobile connectivity through satellite. LVM3-M6 carried the communication satellite as part of a commercial deal between NewSpace India Ltd (NSIL) and US-based AST SpaceMobile (AST and Science, LLC). Weighing 6,100 kg, the communication satellite would be the heaviest payload to be placed into the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) in LVM3 launch history from Indian soil, the space agency said. The previous heaviest was the LVM3-M5 Communication Satellite 03, weighing about 4,400 kg that was successfully launched by ISRO on November 2 in the Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).

Source: Indian Express December 24, 2025 08:30 UTC