24 December morning’s big news: ISRO’s LVM3 M6 mission launches from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, carrying Blue Bird Block-2 satellite into orbit under a commercial deal with US-based AST SpaceMobile. ISRO Chairman V Narayanan said, “The launch vehicle has successfully and accurately placed the Blue Bird Block 2 communication satellite into the designated orbit. This is the first dedicated commercial launch for AST SpaceMobile, a USA company… This is our 104th launch from Sriharikota, as well as the 9th successful mission of the LVM-3 launch vehicle, which shows its 100% reliability… This is just This is LVM-3’s second consecutive mission in 52 days… It is the heaviest satellite ever launched from Indian soil using an Indian launch vehicle. It is also LVM-3’s third fully commercial mission and the vehicle has shown an excellent track record…”
