Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) added another feather on its cap on December 24, 2025, by launching the BlueBird Block-2 satellite using its Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM3-M6) rocket from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. It is a major milestone in India’s space commercialization.
ISRO successfully put 6,100 kilogram communication satellite into Low Earth Orbit (LEO). The satellite was put into orbit of around 520 km. The BlueBird Block-2 satellite is the largest commercial communications satellite deployed in LEO. LEO is an orbit at an altitude of less than 1,000 km.
This mission was achieved successfully under a commercial contract between ISRO’s commercial arm NewSpace India Ltd (NSIL) and United States (US) based AST SpaceMobile. This mission was important as it shows ISRO’s capabilities of putting heaviest commercial payload into orbit.
The satellite was designed by AST SpaceMobile a US based company and it will provide a boost to direct-to-mobile connectivity. Besides, the BlueBird Block-2 ISRO successfully injected OneWeb satellites — cumulatively weighing more than 5,700 kg — to LEO. The space agency also created history on November 2, 2025 by placing CMS-03 weighing 4,410 kg, another heaviest satellite in geosynchronous transfer orbit using the same vehicle.
The LVM-3 is also known as Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk III. It is ISRO’s new heavy lift launch vehicle. It is a three-stage launch vehicle. It comprises of two solid strap-on motors (S200) (Stage-I), a liquid core stage (L110) (Stage-II), and a cryogenic upper stage (C25) (Stage-III).
The two S200 solid rocket boosters provide initial thrust, followed by the L110 liquid-fueled core stage with twin Vikas engines, and the C25 cryogenic upper stage using liquid hydrogen and oxygen, developed indigenously.
The LVM3 is capable of placing the 4 tonne (4,000 kg) satellites of the GSAT series into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbits(GTO). The powerful cryogenic stage enables it to place heavy payloads (8,000 kg) into Low Earth Orbits (LEO) of 600 km altitude.
In its earlier missions, LVM3 successfully launched Chandrayaan-2, Chandrayaan-3, two OneWeb missions carrying 72 satellites and the LVM3-M5/CMS-03 mission. The LVM3-M6 BlueBird satellite launch into a 520-kilometer circular orbit is its 6th operational mission. This trajectory covers key commercial markets across the United States, Europe, Japan, and India.