PM Modi Hails LVM3-M6 Success as India Launches Heaviest Satellite from Indian Soil

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the successful launch of LVM3-M6 on 24 December, India’s most powerful rocket, which deployed the heaviest satellite ever launched from Indian soil into its designated orbit.

The mission placed the US-based BlueBird Block-2 communications satellite in space, marking a major milestone for India’s expanding commercial launch capabilities.

In a message shared on social media platform X, the Prime Minister said the mission strengthened India’s heavy-lift launch capability and underlined the country’s growing role in the global commercial space market.

He also described the achievement as a reflection of India’s push towards self-reliance, congratulating ISRO’s scientists and engineers for the feat.

Nicknamed “Baahubali”, the Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM3) undertook its eighth mission, carrying the nearly 6,100-kg BlueBird Block-2 satellite, the heaviest payload launched by an Indian rocket to date.

Developed by US firm AST SpaceMobile, the next-generation satellite is designed to enable direct broadband connectivity from space to standard smartphones, without the need for specialised ground equipment.

ISRO said the mission was a dedicated commercial launch and marked the sixth operational flight of the LVM3.

The three-stage rocket, comprising solid strap-on motors, a liquid core stage and a cryogenic upper stage, has a lift-off mass of 640 tonnes and is capable of placing payloads of up to 4,200 kg into geosynchronous transfer orbit.

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