India’s space program marked another milestone as the LVM 3-M3 rocket carried 36 OneWeb satellites into orbit, the satellites forming a new constellation aimed at global broadband coverage. The launch, conducted from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on the island of Sriharikota in southeastern India, was executed under a formal agreement between OneWeb and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) to place OneWeb’s low Earth orbit satellites on Indian launch vehicles as part of a continuing collaboration to expand accessible satellite internet services. (Source: TASS, corroborating ISRO’s statements and mission objectives.)
In a separate but related development, two ISRO scientists recently reviewed space debris that descended over a rural area near Sindevahi in central India on April 2. Their assessment identified the debris as remnants of a Long March rocket launch vehicle from China, providing important data about reentry patterns and possible debris mitigation considerations for future missions. The discovery included a metal ring with a diameter of about 2 to 3 meters, a weight exceeding 40 kilograms, and a cylindrical section roughly half a meter tall, details that help inform ongoing international space safety discussions. (Source: ISRO experts, as reported by independent observers.)