A GSLV rocket, carrying ISRO’s Earth observation satellite EOS-05, lifted off from the spaceport in a pre-dawn mission on Friday (September 4, 2026).

The 51.7 metre tall GSLV-F17 blasted off from the second launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, about 135 km from Chennai, at a prefixed time of 2.55 am, lighting up the dark skies amid rains.

The state-of-the-art Earth observation spacecraft will be India’s first ever imaging satellite from the Geosynchronous orbit, official sources said.

The rocket blasted off at the end of the 27-hour countdown that started at 23.30 hours on Wednesday.