Isro's 'naughty boy' rocket comes in from cold for a make-or-break launch today

Meteorological satellite INSAT-3DS will be launched into space onboard a Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle (GSLV) today evening in what is being termed as a crucial mission for ISRO's rocket nicknamed “naughty boy”.

The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), which is scheduled to lift off with the INSAT-3DS satellite from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh at 5.35 pm on Saturday, was named "naughty boy" by a former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation since the rocket failed in six of its 15 flights - a 40 per cent fail rate. 

The last launch of the GSLV, on May 29, 2023, was successful but the one before that  - on August 12, 2021 - was a failure. 

The GSLV-F14 will lift off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, the ISRO said. It will be the rocket’s 16th mission overall and its 10th flight using the indigenously developed cryogenic engine.

The mission’s success will be crucial for the GSLV, which is scheduled to carry later this year the Earth observation satellite, NISAR, jointly developed by NASA and ISRO.

NISAR will map the entire globe in 12 days and provide “spatially and temporally consistent” data for understanding changes in Earth’s ecosystems, ice mass, sea level rise and natural hazards such as earthquakes and tsunamis, according to ISRO.