India will use indigenously developed cryogenic engine technology, when its launches its biggest rocket, the 49m-tall 414t geosynchronous launch vehicle (GSLV) in January 2010.

With the launch of the GSLV-D3 for carrying the GSAT-4, a 2t communication satellite, India will be counted among few countries such as the US, Russia, France, Japan and China possessing the cryogenic engine technology.

The GSAT-4 will carry a multibeam Ka-band bent pipe and regenerative transponder and navigation payload in C, L1 and L5 bands, capable of guiding civil and military aircraft.

Tauvex, a scientific payload comprising three ultraviolet-band telescopes developed by Tel Aviv University and the Israeli space agency (ELOP), will also be carried by the GSAT-4 for surveying a large part of the sky in the 1,400-3,200 angstrom wavelengths.

30 days are needed after the satellite arrives at the launch centre to check all systems prior to take-off, according to ISRO sources.

Currently, intensive checks are underway on the previously examined cryogenic engine and technical data, while the satellite is expected to reach the launch centre by the middle of December 2009.