GSLV-F06 to blast off with GSAT 5P on Saturday

The Indian Space Research Organisation will launch its advanced communication satellite GSAT 5P on December 25 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.

Isro officials said that the GSAT 5P launch onboard the GSLV-F06 would take place at 4.01 pm on Christmas. The countdown for the launch would commence on Friday.

The GSAT 5P launch, scheduled on December 20, was called off after Isro scientists had detected a leak in one of the valves of the Russian-made cryogenic engine.

Following the set back, scientists conducted a detailed review and corrected the faulty valve before giving a green signal to go ahead with the launch.

The GSAT 5, configured as an exclusive C-band communication satellite, would carry 12 normal C-band transponders and six extended C-band transponders. The spacecraft with a mission life of 12 years, would replace the Insat-2E, launched in 1999.

The GSAT 5P is Isro’s first GSLV launch after the failed April 15 flight testing of the indigenous cryogenic engine in the GSLV-D3 mission.