ISRO plans GSLV-F17 launch for September 4

The Indian Space Research Organisation plans to launch its GSLV-F17 rocket with the EOS-05 Earth-observation satellite on September 4 at 2:55 a.m. India Standard Time. ISRO published the schedule on August 29 and says the launch is planned from the Second Launch Pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

The agency describes GSLV-F17 as the 19th flight of India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle. Its mission brochure lists a 51.7-metre, three-stage vehicle with a liftoff mass of 420.5 tonnes and a four-metre composite payload fairing; those are planned mission specifications, not flight results.

EOS-05 is intended for a sub-geosynchronous transfer orbit, ISRO says. The brochure lists a nominal 170-kilometre perigee, a 28,934-kilometre apogee and an approximately 2,367-kilogram payload mass. ISRO describes EOS-05 as an Earth-observation spacecraft and says it will be India's first imaging satellite from geosynchronous orbit.

The published material is a pre-launch notice, so it does not establish a liftoff or orbital insertion. The next material confirmation will be a launch update from ISRO after the scheduled September 4 attempt.