India’s Baahubali rocket sets record with heaviest satellite - VIDEO
India has reached a new milestone in its space journey.
On Wednesday morning, ISRO’s powerful ‘Baahubali’ rocket successfully launched the heaviest satellite ever carried by an Indian launch vehicle, marking a major boost to the country’s global space ambitions, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
🚀India's '#Baahubali' Rocket Places Heaviest-Ever Satellite In Orbit
— News.Az (@news_az) December 24, 2025
India's ‘Baahubali' rocket, Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (#lvm3 )-M6, took off from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh this morning with BlueBird 6, a next-gen communications satellite from US innovator AST SpaceMobile. pic.twitter.com/RUl4IvCx44
The Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM3-M6) lifted off at 8:55 am from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, carrying BlueBird-6, a next-generation communications satellite developed by US company AST SpaceMobile. Standing 43.5 metres tall and powered by two S200 solid boosters, the rocket completed a flawless ascent.
After a flight of around 15 minutes, the satellite separated from the rocket and was successfully placed into orbit at an altitude of about 520 kilometres. BlueBird-6 is part of AST SpaceMobile’s Block-2 satellite series, designed to deliver space-based cellular broadband directly to standard smartphones — without the need for special hardware.
ISRO Chairman and Department of Space Secretary Dr V. Narayanan confirmed the success, calling it one of the strongest performances by any launch vehicle globally. He noted that this was the third fully commercial mission of the LVM-3, highlighting India’s growing reliability in the commercial launch market.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised the mission, describing it as a “significant stride” for India’s space sector. He said the launch strengthened India’s heavy-lift capabilities and reinforced its role in the global commercial space economy.
The launch was delayed by 90 seconds after ISRO detected a potential collision risk from space debris or nearby satellites along the flight path. Officials said such last-minute adjustments are becoming increasingly common due to growing congestion in low-Earth orbit.
About the Baahubali Rocket
Developed by ISRO, the LVM-3 is a three-stage heavy-lift launch vehicle consisting of:
- Two solid strap-on motors (S200)
- A liquid core stage (L110)
- A cryogenic upper stage (C25)
With a lift-off mass of 640 tonnes, the rocket can carry payloads of up to 4,200 kg to Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). Previous LVM-3 missions include Chandrayaan-2, Chandrayaan-3, and multiple OneWeb satellite launches.
The mission was carried out under a commercial agreement between NewSpace India Ltd (NSIL) — ISRO’s commercial arm — and AST SpaceMobile, further underlining India’s expanding footprint in the global space launch market.
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