The Indian Space Research Organization( ISRO) is all set to launch the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle GSLV F-09 carrying the high profile South Asia Satellite at 4:57 this evening.
The 28-hour countdown is about to reach its climax in a couple of hours leading to its lift off from the second launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikotta.
South Asia Satellite project, initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a gift to the SAARC nations, is being participated by six of India’s neighbours including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Srilanka and the Maldives, though Pakistan pulled out of it.
The space-based regional communication project is in line with the policy “Sab Ka Saat, Sab Ka Vikaas” cutting across national boundaries, as said by Prime Minister Modi in his radio address to the nation.
The satellite weighing 2230 kilogram during lift off and carrying 12 Ku-Band transponders has been developed at a cost of about 235-crore rupees by ISRO and the total cost of the project including the launch is worked out to be about 450-crore rupees.
The intended operational life of the satellite is more than 12 years. This will be the eleventh flight of the GSLV and the indigenously made Cryogenic Upper Stage is to be used in it for the fourth consecutive time.