ISRO Ships Off INSAT-3DS Satellite to Satish Dhawan Space Center for Launch

ISRO's brand new satellite, INSAT-3DS, has been shipped off to Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota for its launch, agency said on January 27. ISRO said that satellite was sent to its launch site on January 25 after its assembly, integration and testing was complete at UR Rao Satellite Center in Bengaluru. satellite will be launched aboard GSLV F14, new variant of heavy rocket which uses liquid propellant. 

GSLV-F14/INSAT-3DS Mission:

INSAT-3DS, ISRO's latest meteorological satellite, developed at U R Rao Satellite Centre in Bengaluru for Ministry of Earth Science (MoES), has been flagged off to SDSC-SHAR, Sriharikota, for launch aboard GSLV-F14.https://t.co/47wpxKyxdp pic.twitter.com/nelmNjN8hu

— ISRO (@isro)

ISRO said that satellite mission has been funded by Ministry of Earth Science (MoES) and that several entities of Indian industries have significantly contributed to its development. launch date, however, is yet to be announced. 

Weighing 2,275 kg, satellite is designed for "enhanced meteorological observations and monitoring of land and ocean surfaces for wear forecasting and disaster warning," ISRO said in an official statement. 

This will be one of ISRO's many missions lined up for 2024 and sequence started with launch of XPoSat on January 1. Short for X-ray Polarimeter Satellite, XPoSat was launched aboard PSLV rocket to study X-ray from extreme cosmic objects like black holes, neutron stars and active galactic nuclei.