ISRO Chairman Dr V Narayanan on Wednesday offered prayers to Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala ahead of the scheduled launch of the GSLV-F17/EOS-05 mission, carrying one of India's most significant new Earth-observation satellites.
Dr Narayanan arrived at the hill shrine carrying a model of the GSLV-F17 rocket and had darshan of Lord Venkateswara during the VIP break. The rocket model was placed at the feet of the deity by the temple priests as part of the customary prayers seeking divine blessings for the mission.
Following the darshan, Vedic scholars rendered Veda Ashirvachanam at the Ranganayakula Mandapam. Temple authorities felicitated the ISRO Chairman with the sacred temple cloth and presented him with Srivari Theertha Prasadam.
The GSLV-F17/EOS-05 mission is scheduled for launch at 2:55 am on September 4 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota. ISRO has officially confirmed the launch schedule.
The mission is particularly significant because EOS-05 is India's first Earth-observation imaging satellite intended for a geosynchronous orbit, enabling frequent, wide-area imaging of the country. ISRO says GSLV-F17 will place the satellite into a Sub-Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit.
The satellite is expected to strengthen India's ability to conduct continuous and high-resolution Earth observation, with applications ranging from weather and disaster monitoring to agriculture, environmental assessment and strategic requirements.
The launch also marks an important return to the launch schedule for ISRO following a seven-month gap after the PSLV-C62 setback earlier this year, making the success of GSLV-F17/EOS-05 closely watched by the country's space community.
