May 18, 2026 12:02 pm (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
Kathak to Garba: Indian diaspora stuns PM Modi with grand welcome in Amsterdam | ‘Geography or history’: Indian Army chief issues blunt warning to Pakistan over terror support | India, UAE ink key energy deals during Modi’s visit amid West Asia tensions | ‘There can be no better Bengal CM’: Mithun Chakraborty praises Suvendu Adhikari | PM Modi adviser Sanjeev Sanyal frontrunner for Bengal Finance Minister: Report | FIR against Abhishek Banerjee over ‘provocative speeches’ during West Bengal poll campaign | Madhya Pradesh High Court holds Bhojshala complex disputed site to be a temple | ‘Even ex-CM can be probed’: Suvendu Adhikari’s big statement on RG Kar case | Big action in RG Kar case: Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari suspends 3 IPS officers, including ex-CP Vineet Goyal | Modi’s UAE visit delivers major defence, energy deals amid Middle East tensions

ISRO to launch South Asia Satellite today

| | May 05, 2017, at 06:07 pm
New Delhi, May 5 (IBNS) : In a landmark move, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is set to launch on Friday the GSAT-9 or the South Asia Communication Satellite,designed to connect India with six other member countries of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).

According to media reports, the launch is scheduled to take place at 4 57 pm from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

The move is seen as a move to counter China in space diplomacy as the satellite will provide telecommunication links between India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, paving way for common south Asia programming.

It will also a enable each SAARC country to reach out to the other through its own programmes.

Pakistan has opted out of the project.
.
The South Asia Satellite will be launched atop a 50-meter tall rocket, the Geo-Synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle.

The rocket weighs 414 kg.

ISRO built the 2,230-kg satellite over three years at a cost of Rs. 235 crore. . The project costs over 450 crore.

 

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.