By BlueShift | 2026-01-05

India's space agency has launched its heaviest payload to date, with its LVM3-M6 rocket on December 23 placing US-based company AST SpaceMobile's next generation communications satellite into low-Earth orbit (LEO).

The BlueBird Block-2 satellite is the largest commercial communications array ever to be deployed in LEO. It is designed to provide space-based cellular broadband connectivity directly to standard mobile smartphones.

In another first, the launch was the first time a US commercial company's communication satellite was launched from an Indian rocket.

At nearly 2,400 square feet, BlueBird 6 is more than three times the size and 10 times the data capacity of the six AST SpaceMobile satellites that are currently in orbit, the company said in a statement.

The six satellites were already the largest in orbit, "so this is a really big step for the company" as well as a "really big step for connectivity globally," AST SpaceMobile president Scott Wisniewski said in a company webcast.

To reach the launch site in India from AST SpaceMobile's manufacturing site in the US city of Midland, Texas, the world's largest commercial LEO spacecraft was loaded into the world's largest operational cargo aircraft.

Ukraine's Antonov-124 'Ruslan' cargo plane arrived at the Indian city of Chennai on October 16 with the BlueBird 6 satellite on board.

The massive satellite was then transported by truck to the launch site, Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, which is located on an island roughly 100km to the north of Chennai.

Boost for India's space program

The launch is a boost for India's ambitious low-cost space program, with plans for an uncrewed orbital mission early this year and human spaceflight in 2027.

It comes as the country asserts its presence in the space sector, commanding an increasing segment of the booming commercial satellite business.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the deployment "a significant stride" for the sector, noting that it marked "a proud milestone in India's space journey."

"It strengthens India's heavy-lift launch capability and reinforces our growing role in the global commercial launch market," he said in a statement.

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) said the flight carrying BlueBird 6 was the "heaviest payload to be launched from Indian soil."

The satellite, which weighs a full 6,100kg, was launched on a modified version of the LVM3, which India plans to use for its future space missions.

Developed by ISRO, the LVM3 is a three-stage launch vehicle comprising two solid strap-on motors, a liquid core stage and a cryogenic upper stage.

It has a lift-off mass of 640 tons, stands 43.5 meters tall, and a payload capability of 4,200kg to Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).

In its earlier missions, LVM3 successfully launched Chandrayaan-2, Chandrayaan-3, and two OneWeb missions carrying 72 satellites.

The rocket successfully launched the Indian CMS-03 satellite on November 2, which was at that time its heaviest ever communication satellite launch.

AST SpaceMobile is currently ramping up production, announcing plans to launch between 45 and 60 of its next-generation Bluebird satellites in 2026.