ISRO gearing up to launch INSAT-3DR by end of August

Scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) are gearing up for the launch of geostationary weather satellite INSAT-3DR sometime by the end of next month, a top official of the agency said today.

"The GSLV (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) Mark II will carry the geostationary weather satellite INSAT-3DR. "We are looking to launch it by end of next month," ISRO Satellite Centre Director Mayilsami Annadurai told reporters here on the sidelines of a function.

The space agency had successfully launched INSAT-3D, a satellite aided search and rescue satellite, from French Guiana in 2013. ISRO made its last successful launch of 20 satellites, including its earth observation Cartosat-2 series, in a single mission on board ISRO's workhorse PSLV-C34 from the spaceport of Sriharikota last month.

ISRO Chairman A S Kiran Kumar had recently said that the space agency was planning to increase the number of rocket launches from the present eight to 12 every year.