Explained: Why ISRO launched LVM3 at 12:07am & why only 36 satellites on biggest rocket?

For those who observe very closely, no two rocket launches (months apart or years apart) take place at the exact same time. Each lift-off has its own specific, unique timing, down to the minute. Some happen at dusk, some at dawn, some during the midnight hour etc. For example, the recent launch of the LVM3, India's largest rocket carrying 36 satellites from UK-based company OneWeb, took place at 00:07hrs IST on October 23.

There is an entire branch of space science known as 'Orbital Mechanics' that is used to determine what is known as a 'Launch window', a period of time within which a certain launch must happen.

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Launch windows depend on a plethora of factors - place of launch, type of orbit intended, final destination, whether it is headed for another planet, number of satellites being carried, the time of the year, the position of the relevant heavenly bodies and also minimal risk of space debris.

In the case of OneWeb Launch, 14 which was carried out from India's Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, the launch was originally scheduled for Friday,22nd October night. However, due to some factors, the launch was carried out on Sunday 00:07am IST. OneWeb Officials told WION that they had determined the time of launch, in close coordination with ISRO, as the former were the paying customers for the launch. Interestingly, launch day 23rd October also happened to be the birthday of the Chairman of OneWeb, but that was just an extremely rare coincidence, with no relevance to the launch.

It must be noted that the Indian LVM3 rocket can carry anywhere between eightto 10 tons of payload to Low Earth orbit. However, OneWeb only put 36 satellites (weighing 6tons in total) on board the rocket. Queried about why the company did not make full use of the payload capacity and derive maximum value out of the launch, Massimiliano Ladovaz, CTO, OneWeb told WION that it was a limitation posed by the satellite dispenser that they used.

Ladovaz explained to WION that the satellite dispenser was originally meant for only 36 satellites and was supposed to fly on a Soyuz rocket. Owing to circumstances, when OneWeb decided to launch their satellites on ISRO's LVM3, they knew that they had to go with 36 satellites on the existing dispenser or spend precious time for getting a new dispenser. "We would have liked to and could have done more(launched more satellites on this LVM3 rocket), however getting a new dispenser to accommodate more satellites would have taken more time" he elaborated.

With Low Earth orbit getting increasingly populated with constellations of communication satellites from various firms, astronomers have raised concerns. The issues are primarily to do with light getting reflected from the satellites' solar panels, satellite trails appearing in astronomical images and adversely affected the field of view of astronomers.

When queried about what OneWeb was doing to mitigate this issue, Ladovaz told WION that the company was working with astronomers to measure the exact impact and prepare to reduce it. He also said that the OneWeb satellites were placed in an orbit that was too high to be visible. However, he did acknowledge that they could be seen in some conditions by astronomers. He added that the company was working on reducing this adverse impact by darkening some reflective surfaces of their Next-gen constellation of satellites.

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