Watch an Indian rocket launch 36 OneWeb internet satellites today

Update for 5:40 pm ET: India successfully launched 36 OneWeb internet satellites into orbit at 2:37 p.m. EDT today, Oct. 22. Read our full wrap story of the successful launch.


An Indian rocket will launch 36 of OneWeb's internet satellites to orbit on Saturday (Oct. 22), and you can watch the action live.

A GSLV ("Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle") Mark III rocket is scheduled to launch the satellites Saturday at 2:37 p.m. EDT (1837 GMT; 12:07 a.m. India Standard Time on Oct. 23) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, a barrier island just off India's southeastern coast. 

Watch it live here at Space.com, courtesy of OneWeb, or directly via the company. Coverage is expected to begin 25 minutes before liftoff.

London-based OneWeb has launched 426 satellites to date, all of them aboard Russian-built Soyuz rockets operated by the French company Arianespace. But that launch partnership splintered following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which began in late February of this year, leading OneWeb to seek out new rides to orbit.

The company soon found two. OneWeb announced in March that it had signed a launch deal with SpaceX, then revealed a similar contract with New Space India Limited (NSIL), the commercial branch of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), a month later. The terms of each deal were not disclosed.

Saturday's launch will be the first under the NSIL contract. (OneWeb has yet to fly with SpaceX, a competitor in the satellite-internet field with its Starlink network.)

An Indian GSLV Mark III rocket topped with 36 of OneWeb's internet satellites rolls out to the pad at e Satish Dhawan Space Centre on Oct. 14, 2022 ahead of a planned Oct. 22 launch.  (Image credit: ISRO via Twitter)

OneWeb is building out an initial constellation of 648 satellites in low Earth orbit, which will allow the company to provide internet service to customers around the globe. 

OneWeb expects to hit that milestone sometime next year. The company already provides coverage to customers who live above 50 degrees north latitude.

The 143-foot-tall (43.5 meters) GSLV MkIII, also known as the LVM3, is India's most powerful rocket. The three-stage launcher is capable of delivering 17,600 pounds (8,000 kilograms) of payload to low Earth orbit, according to its ISRO specifications page.

Mike Wall is the author of "Out There" (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or on Facebook.  

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.

Mike Wall
Senior Space Writer

Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, "Out There," was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.