PM Congratulates ISRO on Successful Launch of GSAT-18

Chennai: An Indian communication satellite GSAT-18 was successfully put into orbit by Ariane 5 rocket belonging to French company Arianespace on Thursday, Indian space agency said.

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, built by the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), aims at providing telecommunications services for the country by strengthening Isro's current fleet of 14 operational telecommunication satellites.The Indian communication satellite GSAT-18 was successfully put into orbit by Ariane 5 rocket belonging to French company Arianespace on October 6. The rocket lifted off from its spaceport in Kourou (French Guiana).Weighing 3,404 kg at lift-off, GSAT-18 carries 48 communication transponders to provide services in Normal C-band, Upper Extended C-band and Ku-bands of the frequency spectrum.

The launch was originally scheduled for Wednesday, but deferred by 24 hours owing to unfavourable weather conditions at Kourou, a French territory located in northeastern coast of South America.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Indian space scientists for successfully launching the communication satellite, GSAT-18, calling it "another milestone for our space programme".