Isro to launch communication satellite of US firm AST SpaceMobile in March

The Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) LVM3 rocket will launch in March a communication satellite of a US-based firmT SpaceMobile that plans to provide space-based cellular broadband network services on smartphones. "The commercial LVM3-M5 mission, set for March, will deploy BlueBird Block-2 satellites under a contract with the US-basedT SpaceMobile," an official statement said. The statement came after Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh reviewed the functioning of the Department of Space with senior officials, including the outgoing ISRO chairman S Somanath, his successor V Narayanan and Pawan Kumar Goenka, Chairman of Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe). Narayanan, who will succeed Somanath on January 14, during the meeting outlined a strategic roadmap for expanding the ISRO's global footprint. The joint NASA-ISRO satellite NISAR and a navigation satellite NVS-02 are set for launch in February on board two separate missions o