US-licensed satellite to launch on Isro’s LVM-3 rocket next month

The US-licensed Blue-Bird 6 satellite, among the world’s heaviest commercial communications satellite designed for Low Earth Orbit (LEO), is scheduled to launch on Isro’s LVM-3 rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, on December 15, according a statement from telecom company AST SpaceMobile.

- Snehal Fernandes

Manufactured at AST SpaceMobile’s headquarters in Midland, Texas, the 6,500kg satellite is the first of the firm's next generation satellites. “Our next-generation satellites will soon enable ubiquitous cellular broadband coverage direct to everyday smartphones from space,” said Abel Avellan, founder, chairman