NSIL Invites Private Sector To Manufacture ISRO's Heavy-Lift LVM3 Launch Vehicle: All About It

New Space India Limited (NSIL), the commercial arm of the Department of Space, is seeking private sector involvement in manufacturing the LVM3 launch vehicle, which has been pivotal in India’s lunar missions, Chandrayaan-2 and Chandrayaan-3.

Additionally, a human-rated version of this vehicle is designated for the upcoming Gaganyaan mission.

Initially used for missions that required the spacecraft to escape Earth’s orbit or be placed in the large geosynchronous orbits - orbits at over 35,000 km where the satellites can move in synchronisation with the Earth’s rotation, the LVM3's utility expanded to commercial launches, notably placing multiple satellites into various orbits.

This capability was demonstrated with the successful deployment of two batches of 36 satellites each for OneWeb in 2022 and 2023.

These missions were transferred to India following geopolitical tensions between Russia and the UK.

“The planned technological advancements are expected to significantly improve the LVM3 payload capacity in the coming years… NSIL recognises that there is a growing demand for launching heavier communications satellites as well as satellites for global mega LEO (low earth orbit) constellations,” the agency said in its request for qualification, Indian Express reported.

Several companies including Starlink and OneWeb are actively developing such networks, which aim to provide global internet coverage.

Aligning with the government’s strategy to deepen private sector engagement in aerospace, NSIL's initiative marks a significant step towards enabling private companies to construct entire launch vehicles, moving beyond component manufacturing.

According to the document, the NSIL will conduct a two-stage bidding process - shortlist multiple technically qualified manufacturers and then select one company based on their financial competitiveness.

Earlier in 2022, the agency called for completely manufacturing a launch vehicle by private players with its workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).

A consortium of HAL and L&T has been selected to manufacture five PSLV, with the first flight of the privately manufactured vehicle likely this year.

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