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

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

GSLV-F14/INSAT-3DS Mission:

INSAT-3DS, ISRO's latest meteorological satellite, developed at the U R Rao Satellite Centre in Bengaluru for the 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) January 27, 2024

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

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

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