LVM3

Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III)

LVM3 M3 on SDSC SLP, carrying 36 OneWeb satellites
Function	Medium-lift launch vehicle[1]
Manufacturer	ISRO
Country of origin	India
Cost per launch	₹500 crore (US$60 million)[2][3]
Size
Height	43.43 m (142.5 ft)[4][1]
Diameter	4 m (13 ft)[4]
Mass	640,000 kg (1,410,000 lb)[1]
Stages	3[1]
Capacity
Payload to LEO
Mass	10,000 kg (22,000 lb)[5]
Payload to GTO
Mass	4,300 kg (9,500 lb)[1][6]
Payload to TLI
Mass	3,000 kg (6,600 lb)[7]
Associated rockets
Family	Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle
Comparable	Angara Atlas V Falcon 9 H-IIA Long March 3B Long March 7 Titan IIIC Zenit rocket
Launch history
Status	Active
Launch sites	Satish Dhawan SLP
Total launches	7
Success(es)	7
Failure(s)	0
Partial failure(s)	0
First flight	18 December 2014 (suborbital) 5 June 2017 (orbital)
Last flight	14 July 2023
Type of passengers/cargo	CARE GSAT Chandrayaan-2/3 OneWeb Gaganyaan
First stage – S200 Boosters
Height	25 m (82 ft)[1]
Diameter	3.2 m (10 ft)[1]
Empty mass	31,000 kg (68,000 lb) each[8]
Gross mass	236,000 kg (520,000 lb) each[8]
Propellant mass	205,000 kg (452,000 lb) each[8]
Powered by	Solid S200
Maximum thrust	5,150 kN (525 tf)[9][10][11]
Specific impulse	274.5 seconds (2.692 km/s) (vacuum)[8]
Burn time	128 s[8]
Propellant	HTPB / AP[8]
Second stage – L110
Height	21.39 m (70.2 ft)[12]
Diameter	4.0 m (13.1 ft)[8]
Empty mass	9,000 kg (20,000 lb)[12]
Gross mass	125,000 kg (276,000 lb)[12]
Propellant mass	116,000 kg (256,000 lb)[12]
Powered by	2 Vikas engines
Maximum thrust	1,598 kN (163.0 tf)[8][13][14]
Specific impulse	293 seconds (2.87 km/s)[8]
Burn time	203 s[12]
Propellant	UDMH / N2O4
Third stage – C25
Height	13.545 m (44.44 ft)[8]
Diameter	4.0 m (13.1 ft)[8]
Empty mass	5,000 kg (11,000 lb)[12]
Gross mass	33,000 kg (73,000 lb)[12]
Propellant mass	28,000 kg (62,000 lb)[8]
Powered by	1 CE-20
Maximum thrust	186.36 kN (19.003 tf)[8]
Specific impulse	442 seconds (4.33 km/s)
Burn time	643 s[8]
Propellant	LOX / LH2
[edit on Wikidata]

The Launch Vehicle Mark-3 or LVM3^[1][15][16] (previously referred as the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III or GSLV Mk III)^[a] is a three-stage^[1] medium-lift launch vehicle developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Primarily designed to launch communication satellites into geostationary orbit,^[18] it is also due to launch crewed missions under the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme.^[19] LVM3 has a higher payload capacity than its predecessor, GSLV.^{[20][21][22][23]}

After several delays and a sub-orbital test flight on 18 December 2014, ISRO successfully conducted the first orbital test launch of LVM3 on 5 June 2017 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.^[24]

Total development cost of project was ₹2,962.78 crore (equivalent to ₹45 billion or US$540 million in 2023).^[25] In June 2018, the Union Cabinet approved ₹4,338 crore (equivalent to ₹58 billion or US$700 million in 2023) to build 10 LVM3 rockets over a five-year period.^[26]

The LVM3 has launched CARE, India's space capsule recovery experiment module, Chandrayaan-2 and Chandrayaan-3 , India's second and third lunar missions, and will be used to carry Gaganyaan, the first crewed mission under Indian Human Spaceflight Programme. In March 2022, UK-based global communication satellite provider OneWeb entered into an agreement with ISRO to launch OneWeb satellites aboard the LVM3 along with the PSLV, due to the launch services from Roscosmos being cut off, caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.^[27][28][29] The first launch took place on 22 October 2022, injecting 36 satellites into Low Earth orbit.

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