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The rocket, named
Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mk III, will lift
off from the Sriharikota space centre in southern India at 5.28
pm local time (1158 GMT), the Indian Space Research Organisation
(ISRO) said on its website.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has been
promoting the home-grown space programme as a demonstration of
low-cost technology and in February it launched 104 satellites
in a single mission, most of them for foreign customers.
At 3,136 kgs (6914 lb) the GSAT-19 satellite will be the
heaviest India has attempted to put in orbit, the space agency
said. The United States, Russia, China, Japan and European Space
Agency have launched satellites weighing over three tonne.
ISRO hopes that if Monday's launch is successful, it will help
it attract more foreign business in the lucrative heavier
segment of the satellite business.
(Reporting by Vipin Das M; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani and
Michael Perry)
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