The 30 hour countdown for the launch of Geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle GSLV-FO6 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Srihartikota began at 10.04 this morning. The launch is scheduled at 4.04 pm tomorrow. ISRO Spokesman Mr. Satish told that all the pre launch tests are proceeding satisfactorily. GSLV in its seventh flight will place India's advanced and heaviest communication satellite GSAT-5P in orbit. The fifth in the series G SAT 5 Prime will carry 24 C band and 12 extended C band transponders. It is an exclusive communication satellite aimed at further augmenting the communication services currently provided by the Indian National Satellite (INSAT) system. The launch of GSLV F06 was earlier scheduled for Monday last but was deferred after a leak was noticed during pre-countdown tests in one of the valves of the cryogenic engine.
This will be ISRO's first GSLV mission after the failure of the flight testing of the indigenous cryogenic stage in the GSLV-D3 mission in April this year. The 51 meter tall, 418 tonne GSLV, a three stage vehicle in its 7th flight is using the tested Russian cryogenic engine this time. The successful launch of the satellite will help augment television and modern communication facilities. It will also come as a big boost and will usher in a new era in telemedicine and tele-education besides boosting telephonic services. GSAT-5P is being planned as a replacement for INSAT-3E. The mission life of the spacecraft will be 12 years.
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