ISRO’s Heavyweight Launcher LVM-3 Ready To Lift Off Next Communication Satellite

Last Updated:October 27, 2025, 18:41 IST

LVM-3 returns to launch pad after success of Chandrayaan-3, which made India the first country in the world to land near the lunar south pole on August 23, 2023

The space agency announced on Monday that the launch vehicle has been fully assembled and integrated with the spacecraft.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is gearing up to lift off a communication satellite on November 2nd from Sriharikota, marking the much-awaited return of its Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM)-3 to the launch pad.

The satellite CMS-03 weighs about 4400 kg and will be the heaviest communication satellite to be launched to the Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) from Indian soil. Satellites in Geosynchronous orbits have an orbital period that exactly matches Earth’s rotation, which enables them to provide continuous communication services.

The space agency announced on Monday that the launch vehicle has been fully assembled and integrated with the spacecraft. It has already been moved to the launch pad for further pre-launch operations.

This will be the fifth operational flight of the rocket (LVM3-M5). The previous mission of LVM-3 launched the Chandrayaan-3, which made India the first country in the world to land near the lunar south pole on August 23, 2023. This three-stage rocket has been designed to achieve 4000 kg spacecraft launching capability.

LVM-3 has also been selected by ISRO for its most ambitious human spaceflight – Gaganyaan, which is scheduled to take off in 2027. However, for that, all systems in the rocket have been reconfigured to meet human rating requirements and it has been renamed – Human Rated LVM-3. It is capable of launching the orbital module to an intended low earth orbit of 400 km.

The space agency has recently completed the first integrated air drop test for Gaganyaan at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, wherein a simulated crew module with a parachute system was released from an altitude of about 3 km using the Indian Air Force’s Chinook heavy lift launcher. ISRO is now preparing for the first uncrewed test flight of Gaganyaan.

Srishti Choudhary

Srishti Choudhary, Senior Assistant Editor at CNN-News18 specializes in science, environment, and climate change reporting. With over a decade of extensive field experience, she has brought incisive ground repo...Read More

Srishti Choudhary, Senior Assistant Editor at CNN-News18 specializes in science, environment, and climate change reporting. With over a decade of extensive field experience, she has brought incisive ground repo...

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