Meteorological satellite INSAT-3DS will be launched into space onboard a GSLV on Saturday evening

The meteorological satellite INSAT-3DS will be launched into orbit aboard a Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle (GSLV) this Saturday evening. According to the ISRO, the GSLV-F14 will launch on Saturday at 5:35 p.m. from Sriharikota's Satish Dhawan Space Centre. It will be the rocket's tenth launch with the homegrown cryogenic engine and its sixteenth mission. The success of the mission will be critical to the GSLV's ability to launch NISAR, an Earth observation satellite being created in collaboration between NASA and ISRO, later this year.

"Spatially and temporally consistent" data for comprehending changes in Earth's ecosystems, ice mass, sea level rise, and natural hazards like earthquakes and tsunamis will be provided by NISAR, which ISRO claims will map the whole planet in 12 days.

The missions of INSAT-3D (launched in 2013) and INSAT-3DR (launched in September 2016) will be assumed by INSAT-3DS, a 2,274 kg satellite with a 10-year mission life. Funding for it has come entirely from the Ministry of Earth Sciences.

It will offer sophisticated meteorological observations of the land and sea surfaces once it is operational. It will be useful for short-term predictions of severe weather events including thunderstorms, aviation visibility assessment, and research on smoke, snow cover, forest fires, and climate change.