GSAT-18, India’s latest communication satellite was launched successfully from the spaceport of Kourou in French Guiana on Thursday by a heavy duty rocket of Arianespace .
The launch was originally scheduled for Wednesday but got postponed by 24 hours because of unfavorable weather conditions at Kourou.
GSAT-18 has been built by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It aims at providing telecommunications services for the country.
ISRO said "As the weather was clear today, the European launcher Ariane-5 VA-231 blasted off at around 2 AM (IST) and injected GSAT-18 shortly after orbiting co-passenger Sky Muster II satellite for Australian operator NBN (National Broadband Network) in a flawless flight lasting about 32. GSAT-18 that aims at providing telecommunications services for the country by strengthening ISRO’s current fleet of 14 operational telecom satellites was launched into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) about 32 minutes after the lift-off."
“GSAT-18 successfully launched by Ariane-5 VA-231 from Kourou, French Guiana,” Bengaluru-headquartered ISRO announced after the mission.
GSAT-18 is the 20th satellite from ISRO to be launched by the European space agency.
Announcing the successful launch of the satellite, Arianespace CEO Stephane Israel tweeted: “We take great pride in our strong relationship w/ @ISRO! Tonight marks 20 sats. launched for India’s space agency & more to come. Congrats!”
ISRO Chairman A S Kiran Kumar, who watched the launch from the mission control center, left shortly after lift-off, and his message was read out later by one of his senior colleagues.
“I am really delighted this evening having witnessed another glorious and flawless lift-off of Ariane-5 VA-231 flight that carried GSAT-18 and Sky Muster II successfully. Like on all previous occasions, Arianespace has again provided us a magnificent textbook launch,” Kumar said.
ISRO said, "Following this, the deployment of appendages such as the solar panels and antennas as well as three-axis stabilization of the satellite will be performed, and GSAT-18 will be positioned at 74 deg East longitude and co-located with other operational satellites."
Kumar said, "the next step after the successful launch of GSAT-18 was to carry out a series of maneuvers before positioning it in its orbital location."
“The necessary preparations have been made and our team back in India is working on mission operations at Master Control Facility, Hassan,” he said.
“GSAT 18 is an important satellite for us that will enable the continuity of the vital communication services in our country by replacing the currently aging satellites,” the ISRO chief said.
"Television, telecommunication, VSAT and digital satellite news gathering were a few of the services that GSAT 18 will support in coming days", he added.
“While GSAT 17 is an important satellite for replacing our satellites, GSAT 11 will be the first generation of a high-throughput satellite of ISRO. Both of these upcoming launches are crucial for the Indian Space Programme,” he added.
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BY M. DIVYA SRI
