India’s GSLV-Mark3 rocket launches 36 OneWeb satellites
India’s GSLV-Mark3 rocket, its most powerful, has successfully placed 36 OneWeb satellites into orbit. As of this writing, the first 16 of the 36 satellites had successfully deployed.
This was the first international commercial launch for the GSLV rocket, previously used exclusively for Indian launches. It was also the first launch of OneWeb satellites since its deal with Russia was broken off due to the Ukraine war. Though the company had also quickly signed SpaceX to resume launches, I suspect that since half of OneWeb is owned by a major Indian investment company, India was given favored treatment in determining who would launch first.
This was the third successful launch in 2022 for India, the most since that country shut down in 2020 due to its panic over the Wuhan flu.
The leaders in the 2022 launch race remains unchanged:
48 SpaceX
45 China
16 Russia
8 Rocket Lab
7 ULA
American private enterprise still leads China 68 to 45, though it now trails the world combined 70 to 68.
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India’s GSLV-Mark3 rocket, its most powerful, has successfully placed 36 OneWeb satellites into orbit. As of this writing, the first 16 of the 36 satellites had successfully deployed.
This was the first international commercial launch for the GSLV rocket, previously used exclusively for Indian launches. It was also the first launch of OneWeb satellites since its deal with Russia was broken off due to the Ukraine war. Though the company had also quickly signed SpaceX to resume launches, I suspect that since half of OneWeb is owned by a major Indian investment company, India was given favored treatment in determining who would launch first.
This was the third successful launch in 2022 for India, the most since that country shut down in 2020 due to its panic over the Wuhan flu.
The leaders in the 2022 launch race remains unchanged:
48 SpaceX
45 China
16 Russia
8 Rocket Lab
7 ULA
American private enterprise still leads China 68 to 45, though it now trails the world combined 70 to 68.
Readers!
My annual February birthday fund-raising drive for Behind the Black is now over. Thank you to everyone who donated or subscribed. While not a record-setter, the donations were more than sufficient and slightly above average.
As I have said many times before, I can’t express what it means to me to get such support, especially as no one is required to pay anything to read my work. Thank you all again!
For those readers who like my work here at Behind the Black and haven't contributed so far, please consider donating or subscribing. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
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3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
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Another way of looking at this is that an investor in OneWeb called in a favor to get put at the head of the queue for a GSLV launch. Meanwhile there is a normal business queue at SpaceX.
SpaceX is quoting some nice prices. but I bet that if you want to get a launch scheduled in under 30 days it is going to cost a premium.
George C opined “. . . but I bet that if you want to get a launch scheduled in under 30 days it is going to cost a premium.”
I would say that if it is possible to schedule a payload launch to orbit in under 30 days, assuming the usual i’s dotted and t’s crossed, (and I have no knowledge, here), American enterprise leads the world, period.