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OneWeb on Sunday announced the successful deployment of 36 satellites launched by ISRO’s commercial arm NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. 

Bharti Global is the largest investor in OneWeb, a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite communications company.

This latest launch by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and NSIL marks one of the biggest commercial orders by India’s premier space organisation, and the first using the LVM3 rocket, OneWeb said in a statement.

OneWeb said it is committed to providing connectivity across the length and breadth of India by 2023.

“36 OneWeb satellites successfully launched by ISRO/ NSIL from Sriharikota,” the statement said.

On the successful deployment, OneWeb said this is the 14th launch and the second this year. This brings the total of OneWeb’s constellation to 462 satellites, representing more than 70 percent of its planned 648 Low Earth Orbit satellite fleet that will deliver high-speed, low-latency connectivity globally.

“With only four more launches to go, OneWeb remains on track to activate global coverage by 2023, while its connectivity solutions are already live in regions north of 50-degrees latitude,” the statement added.

The teaming up with NSIL and ISRO demonstrates OneWeb’s commitment to provide connectivity across the length and breadth of India by 2023, it said.

The LVM3 launch vehicle, realised with complete indigenised technology, had four consecutive successful missions, which includes the critical Chandrayaan-2 mission. The vehicle underwent several critical tests as a part of human rating for Gaganyaan programme. The cryo stage was designed to orient and re-orient in orthogonal direction to meet the customer requirements of injecting satellites precisely and with a gap to avoid collision. The vehicle was realised in a short span of time on demand driven basis to meet the user’s timeline.

Somanath S, Secretary, Department of Space and Chairman, ISRO described the event as one “very historic” to the country and the Indian space programme.

“This is the first ever commercial launch of LVM3 with a heaviest payload to LEO. The mission is very critical to meet the customer’s expectations to launch 36 satellites in 9 phases with precision,” Somanath said.

OneWeb Executive Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said the launch is a significant milestone for the company.

“This new phase of our launch programme from India brings us a step closer to not only enhancing our global coverage but also delivering connectivity in India and South Asia, particularly to the communities who need it most,” Mittal said.

Over the coming months, OneWeb will continue its focus on the launch programme and will also work with key distribution partners and customers to roll out connectivity solutions where its services are live.

The broadband-from-space services are being touted as the next frontier in the India’s growing communications market.

The stage is all set for some high-voltage action as big names like Jio and OneWeb gear up for a slice of the lucrative satellite-based broadband services market in India. Nelco and Telesat too have completed successful LEO demonstrations in the country for enterprise, telecom and government sectors.

The broadband-from-space segment is also being keenly watched by tech billionaire Elon Musk‘s SpaceX Starlink and Amazon‘s Project Kuiper.

Buying an affordable 5G smartphone today usually means you will end up paying a “5G tax”. What does that mean for those looking to get access to 5G networks as soon as they launch? Find out on this week’s episode. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
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Rocket Lab Launches Kushinada-I: A Leap Forward for Japan’s SAR Network

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August 5, 2025

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Rocket Lab Launches Kushinada-I: A Leap Forward for Japan’s SAR Network

In early August 2025, Rocket Lab successfully launched QPS-SAR-12 (nicknamed Kushinada-I), a synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) satellite built by Japan’s iQPS (Institute for Q-shu Pioneers of Space). This mission, called “The Harvest Goddess Thrives” in honor of a Japanese goddess of harvest and prosperity, was Rocket Lab’s fifth dedicated launch for iQPS. The 59-foot (18-meter) Electron rocket lifted the satellite into a 575-km circular orbit. QPS-SAR-12 will join an expanding constellation of SAR Earth-imaging satellites, enabling all-weather, day-and-night observation. The launch exemplifies Rocket Lab’s niche role in deploying small dedicated satellites and advances iQPS’s goal of a 36-satellite global SAR network.

The “Harvest Goddess Thrives” Mission

According to Rocket Lab’s press release, the Electron rocket lifts off on Aug. 5, 2025, from Mahia, New Zealand. The mission, nicknamed “Harvest Goddess Thrives,” carried the QPS-SAR-12 radar satellite (Kushinada-I) for iQPS. The 18-meter vehicle powered away at 12:10 a.m. EDT (4:10 p.m. NZT).The Electron injected Kushinada-I into a planned 575-km sun-synchronous orbit about 54 minutes after liftoff.

Kushinada-I honors a Shinto harvest goddess and is formally designated QPS-SAR-12. This was Rocket Lab’s fifth mission for iQPS and the 69th Electron flight overall. Rocket Lab is also developing a larger Neutron rocket and operates a suborbital test vehicle (HASTE) for hypersonic research.

iQPS SAR Constellation and Applications

By mid-2025, ten QPS-SAR satellites were in orbit, and Kushinada-I became the 12th launched. iQPS plans a total of 36 small SAR spacecraft. Each satellite carries high-resolution SAR capable of imaging through clouds or at night. The full constellation is designed to revisit any target region roughly every 10 minutes, providing near-real-time monitoring.

The SAR network will image both fixed terrain and moving objects (vehicles, ships or livestock). Rocket Lab notes this continuous data stream “has the potential to revolutionize industries and reshape the future,” unlocking economic insights and predictive analytics for agriculture, urban security and other markets.

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Could dark matter come from a mirror world or the cosmic horizon?

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August 5, 2025

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Could dark matter come from a mirror world or the cosmic horizon?

Now there are two more options available for theoretical physicists mulling over the mystery of what dark matter is, and with them come another two pointers towards how to narrow down our search. UC Santa Cruz Professor of Physics Stefano Profumo published a paper examining whether dark matter was always there or instead could have come from a ‘mirror world’ or the edge of space ballooning along with the rest of the universe. Whatever its truth, it would produce dark matter that does not interact with ordinary particles and significantly modify our modern view of the cosmos.

New Theories Suggest Dark Matter Emerged from a Mirror World or Cosmic Horizon Radiation

As per Physical Review D reports, Profumo’s July study theorises that dark matter could form in a shadow sector that mirrors known particles and forces yet remains completely undetectable. The theory is like quantum chromodynamics (QCD), but the dark sector has new quarks and gluons, and it imagines that heavy “dark baryons” are being held together by gravity. This debris could have collapsed into Planck-mass black hole–type objects that would be undetectable but still able to influence the universe’s structure thanks to gravity.

His earlier May study, published in the same journal, suggests another path: that dark matter particles might have been emitted from the universe’s expanding cosmic horizon. It allows for a brief epoch of formation, thermal synthesis of stable cold dark matter, which decouples from the standard model following inflation, and is consistent with quantum field theory in curved spacetime. That ties in neatly with the radiation from black holes and implies that other universes resembling our own might have started out as invisible seeds of matter.

Profumo stressed that these are speculative-theory-specific hypotheses, based on physics principles already there for dark matter or other gravitational channels or quantum phenomena beyond the standard model.

UC Santa Cruz is leading the way in connecting quantum concepts to astrophysics, developing new models to potentially solve a challenging scientific puzzle.

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Sun Roars Back with Three M-Class Flares in 24 Hours

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August 5, 2025

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Sun Roars Back with Three M-Class Flares in 24 Hours

After three weeks of calm, the Sun roared back to life on Aug. 3–4, 2025, unleashing three moderate M-class solar flares in just 24 hours. These midday flares – including a 2.9-M flare on Aug. 3 and two more (M2.0 and M1.4) on Aug. 4, all erupted from sunspot region AR 4168. While not as intense as the largest X-class events, M-class flares are still powerful bursts of radiation capable of briefly disturbing Earth’s upper atmosphere. Experts say we may see minor effects, such as short-lived radio blackouts or a brush of auroras at high latitudes.

Solar Eruptions Ignite

According to space weather website SolarHam.com’s post on X, the flares marked a sudden end to a 22-day quiet spell on the Sun. Sunspot AR 4168, a magnetically complex region, rapidly grew active and unleashed the chain of flares. According to Space.com, the M2.9 flare at 10:01 a.m. EDT on Aug. 3 was the first moderate flare since mid-July, and it was followed by M2.0 and M1.4 flares on Aug. 4.
Each flare released intense X-rays and ultraviolet light.

M-class flares are ten times more energetic than the more common C-class flares, although far weaker than the most extreme X-class eruptions. Scientists noted that these eruptions likely hurled two coronal mass ejections (CMEs) into space, which are huge clouds of charged particles that can impact Earth if they arrive.

Potential Earth Effects

Scientists say these eruptions should have only minor impacts on Earth. By NOAA’s space-weather scale, M1–M4 flares correspond to R1–R2 (minor) radio blackouts, so any HF radio outages would be weak and brief. Satellite communications and power grids are expected to be unaffected.
However, the ejected CMEs may still skim past Earth.

EarthSky reports a possible glancing blow around Aug. 5–6, which could trigger a minor G1 geomagnetic storm. That could briefly light up auroras at high latitudes (for example, far-northern Europe or Canada). So far models suggest only a small chance of impact. In other words, NOAA forecasters classify this as a minor event, unlikely to cause disruptions.

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