ISRO Chairman visited Tirumala Srivaru

ISRO Chairman Dr. V. Narayanan visited the Tirumala temple today to seek divine blessings ahead of an important space mission. Visiting Lord Venkateswara before major launches has been a long-standing tradition among ISRO officials.

On December 24 at 8:54 AM, ISRO will launch the BlueBird Block-2 communication satellite of US-based AST SpaceMobile using the LVM3-M6 heavy-lift rocket from Sriharikota. This will be the heaviest commercial communication satellite deployed into Low Earth Orbit (LEO) from India so far.

Equipped with a massive phased-array antenna spanning nearly 223 square metres, the satellite is designed to provide direct 4G and 5G connectivity to standard smartphones across the globe. The mission aims to enable high-speed internet, voice calls, and video streaming even in remote regions, oceans, and deserts, significantly strengthening global mobile connectivity.