New Delhi: ISRO has scheduled the LVM3-M6 flight to liftoff from the second launch pad (SLP) at Sriharikota at 08:24 hours IST on 24 December. The only
passenger on board is the BlueBird 6 satellite, the first in the second-generation ‘Block 2’ satellites to provide cellular broadband services directly to smartphones, without the use of any special equipment or modifications. To compensate for the altitude, the satellites use large 223 square metre phased arrays. The BlueBird 6 will be the heaviest payload lifted to orbit from Indian soil, weighing at 6100 kgs and will be the largest commercial communications satellite in Earth orbit. Both ISRO and ASTSpaceMobile will be livestreaming the launch.
Both the ISRO and ASTSpaceMobile live launch programming starts half an hour before liftoff. The launch was arranged by the commercial arm of ISRO, New Space India Limited (NSIL). ASTSpaceMobile intends to launch five satellites by the first quarter of 2026, and between 45 and 60 satellites by the end of the year. The constellation will provide 4G and 5G connectivity with voice, video calls, text, streaming and data for anyone in the world, with initial coverage aimed for crucial markets such as North America, Europe and Japan. ASTSpaceMobile has purchased rides to space with Blue Origin and SpaceX as well.
An exciting farewell to 2025
There are an exciting few months ahead for ISRO. The BlueBird 6 satellite was initially supposed to launch on 15 December, before it was pushed to 21 December and then 24 December. ISRO is inviting the general public to witness the liftoff from the Launch Viewing Gallery at Sriharikota. ISRO is following this up with another launch in 2025, on 31 December. This will be the PSLV-C62 flight to launch the EOS-N1 ‘Anvesha’ satellite for DRDO. There are 18 copassengers on board, including the MIRA miniaturised space telescope by EON SpaceLabs with satellite partner TakeMe2Space, and the Kestrel Cargo Capsule demonstrator for Spanish New Space startup Orbital Paradigm.
