ISRO chief prays at Tirumala temple with his team ahead of landmark 100th launch at Sriharikota

ISRO chief Dr Narayanan was accompanied by a team of ISRO scientists and placed a model of the rocket at the deity’s feet

Published on: Jan 28, 2025, 16:53:02 IST

By HT News Desk

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Ahead of India's highly anticipated GSLV-F15/NVS-02 rocket launch, ISRO Chairman Dr V Narayanan on Tuesday visited the Lord Venkateswara temple in Tirumala to offer prayers for the success of the mission.

ISRO is set to make history as it prepares for its 100th launch at Sriharikota tomorrow. (@isro)

As per visuals released by news agency ANI, Dr V Narayanan was accompanied by a team of ISRO scientists and placed a model of the rocket at the deity’s feet.

The ISRO scientists' team also performed a special prayer to seek divine blessings for their upcoming launch.

Speaking to ANI, Dr Narayanan said, "I am grateful that the Prime Minister has decided to sanction ₹400 crores for the third launch pad at ISRO, which would enable the launching of heavier rockets into space."

This new infrastructure would help facilitate the launching of heavier rockets into space, he said.

GSLV-F15/NVS-02 rocket launch

ISRO is set to make history as it prepares for its 100th launch at Sriharikota tomorrow. GSLV-F15/NVS-02, carrying the NVS-02 navigation satellite, will blast off at 6:23 AM from the second launch pad.

The ISRO release noted that GSLV-F15 is the 8th GSLV operational flight fitted with an indigenous Cryogenic stage.

In a first, GSLV-F15 is a metallic payload fairing that has a diameter of 3.4 meters.

The NVS-02 satellite will be positioned by GSLV-F15 fitted with an indigenous Cryogenic stage into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit.

The GSLV-F15/NVS-02 mission might continue this streak as well, making the NavIC system even more advanced with such capabilities.

NavIC refers to India's independent regional navigation satellite system that will offer accurate Position, Velocity, and Timing (PVT) services to users in India and its surrounding regions.

NavIC will render two kinds of services: Standard Positioning Service (SPS) and Restricted Service (RS). It offers a position accuracy better than 20 m (2s) and timing accuracy better than 40 ns (2s) across the service area, as stated in a release.

On May 29, 2023, GSLV-F12 successfully launched the 2,232 kg NVS-01 satellite into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).

The GSLV-F15/NVS-02 mission will further be a very significant step in India's quest to improve navigation and satellite infrastructure.

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HT News Desk
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