Banglore, April 17: On Thursday at 4.27 pm, GSAT-4 satellite, aboard GSLV-D3 will lift off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
The 2,220-kg satellite will be launched into a geosynchronous orbit around the earth from the second launch pad at the space centre.
ISRO officials said the weather forecast was clear and the launch would be on schedule.
For the first time, GSLV-D3 will be powered by a home-made cryogenic engine. This makes India only the sixth nation to possess such a complex technology.
US, Russia, France, Japan and China are the other ‘elite’ countries.
In this flight, GSLV-D3 will carry GSAT-4, an experimental advanced technology communication satellite that carries communication and navigation payloads into the Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit. The payloads are Ka-band bent pipe and regenerative transponder and GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN).
GAGAN is a Wide Area Differential Global Positioning System that employs a geostationary satellite overlay system. It was designed to provide improved position accuracy for precision landing of civilian aircraft.
The Airport Authority of India will be the end-user of the data generated by GAGAN, making India only the fourth country in the world to have a satellite based navigation system.
–Agencies