INSAT-3D - India's Exclusive Meteorological Satellite Will Launch On 26 July

INSAT-3D, India's exclusive meteorological satellite configured with some advance meteorological payloads which includes a 6-channel imager, 19-channel sounder along with data relay transponder and satellite aided search & rescue will be launched on July 26, 2013 from Kourou in French Guiana. The satellite will be launched by European space consortium, Arianespace. An ISRO executive has informed PTI that the spacecraft platform is adopted from the standard I-2K bus with a power handling capability of around 1100 W with a lift off mass of 2090 kg.

INSAT-3D has been developed for high resolution monitoring of temperature and to trace chemical species in the atmospheric regions between the troposphere and stratosphere. It's one of the 3 satellites developed by ISRO to focus on weather forecasting and tracking of cyclone and monsoons that originate from the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. ISRO has collaborated with the University of Reading for the development of MWIR and SWIR narrow-bandpass filters defining the spectral band definition of the satellite. The overall lifetime of the payload is expected to be about 7 years from the day of launch.


The mission of the INSAT-3D is "to provide an operational, environmental & storm warning system to protect life & property and also to monitor earth’s surface and carryout oceanic observations and also provide data dissemination capabilities." Arianespace has also been contracted by India to launch the GSAT-7, a multi-band satellite carrying payloads in UHF, S-Band, C-Band and Ku-Band. The launch is scheduled in August this year.

ISRO is also gearing up for the launch of GSLV-D5 (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle—Development flight 5) in August. The launch is likely to take place from the spaceport of Sriharikota.

We'll bring you the latest updates from the INSAT-3D launch. Stay tuned to CrazyEngineers for further updates.