Bisheshwar Mishra / New Delhi
The countdown for the launch of GSLV Mark III rocket carrying the modern communication satellite GSAT-29 began on Tuesday at 14:50 hrs.
The launch is scheduled at 17:08 hrs today from the second launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, some 90 km off Chennai.
This would be the second test flight for the Indian Space Research Organization ISRO’s heaviest rocket ever. This class of launch vehicles can inject four-tonne class satellites like communication payloads into a geostationary transfer orbit.
The satellite GSAT-29 that is to be launched by the rocket carries high throughput communication transponders in the Ka and Ku bands. It can augment high-speed data transfer in India’s far-flung and remote areas.
It weighs 3423 kg during lift off and has an operational life of over ten years. Overall, tomorrow’s mission would be the ISRO’s fifth launch this year.