India's CMS03 becomes heaviest domestically launched comms satellite

India launched its heaviest domestically carried communication satellite on Sunday, sending the 4,410 kilogram CMS03 into a geosynchronous transfer orbit aboard the LVM3M5 rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. Liftoff occurred at 17:26 IST (11:56 GMT) from the facility's second launch pad, ISRO said.

The multiband satellite rode the 43.5 meter LVM3M5, a heavy‑lift variant of the LVM3 family, known for its capacity to place large payloads into geosynchronous transfer orbit. ISRO said CMS03 was deployed to an elliptical transfer orbit stretching from roughly 170 kilometers to about 30,000 kilometers above Earth, and that separation of the spacecraft from the launch vehicle was expected at an altitude near 180 kilometers after a flight of roughly 16 to 20 minutes.

ISRO described the mission as a step toward increasing indigenous launch capability for heavier communications payloads, removing the need to rely on foreign rockets for satellites above 4,000 kilograms. Historically, larger Indian-built satellites such as GSAT-11 were launched from overseas facilities. The CMS03 mission therefore marks the first time an Indian launcher has placed a...