Amaravati, December 24, 2025: India's space agency ISRO launched its powerful LVM3-M6 rocket this morning from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. The mission placed the BlueBird Block-2 satellite, built by US-based AST SpaceMobile, into low Earth orbit about 15 minutes after liftoff at 8:55 a.m.
Weighing 6,100 kg and featuring a massive 223 m² phased array, the satellite aims to deliver direct 4G and 5G connectivity to standard mobile phones worldwide. This enables voice calls, video, texts, and streaming in remote areas without extra hardware.
The flight sets records as the heaviest payload launched by LVM3 from Indian soil and the largest commercial communications satellite in low Earth orbit. It was the sixth operational LVM3 flight and the third dedicated commercial one through NewSpace India Ltd.
