According to media reports, the launch is scheduled to take place at 4 57 pm from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
The move is seen as a move to counter China in space diplomacy as the satellite will provide telecommunication links between India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, paving way for common south Asia programming.
It will also a enable each SAARC country to reach out to the other through its own programmes.
Pakistan has opted out of the project.
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The South Asia Satellite will be launched atop a 50-meter tall rocket, the Geo-Synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle.
The rocket weighs 414 kg.
ISRO built the 2,230-kg satellite over three years at a cost of Rs. 235 crore. . The project costs over 450 crore.
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