Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)’s latest communication satellite GSAT-17 was Thursday successfully launched around 2.00 am by a heavy duty rocket of Arianespace from the spaceport of Kourou in French Guiana. Configured around I-3K extended bus, the 3,477 kg GSAT-17 carries payloads in Normal C-band, Extended C-band and S-band to provide various communication services. The satellite also carries equipment for meteorological data relay and satellite-based search and rescue services being provided by earlier INSAT satellites.

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According to a PTI report, the European launcher Arianespace Flight VA238 blasted off from Ariane Launch Complex No 3 (ELA 3) at Kourou, a French territory located in the northeastern coast of South America, couple of minutes delayed than the scheduled time of 2:29 hours IST.

“GSAT-17 was injected shortly after orbiting co-passenger Hellas Sat 3-Inmarsat S EAN in a flawless flight lasting about 41 minutes,” the report said.

After the successful launch of the mission, the space agency said, “GSAT-17 successfully launched by Ariane-5 VA-238 from Kourou, French Guiana. GSAT-17 that will strengthen ISRO’s current fleet of 17 telecommunications satellites was launched into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).”

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The launch of GSAT-17 will be the third satellite launch by ISRO this month, the other two being the first developmental flight of GSLV MkIII and PSLV C-38 missions, both from Sriharikota spaceport. The recent launches by the space agency were GSAT-19 satellite on June 5 and the PSLV-C38 that orbited Cartosat-2 Series satellite along with 30 co-passenger satellites on June 23 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.

Announcing the successful launch of the satellite, Arianespace CEO Stephane Israel tweeted, “Confirmed: GSAT-17 has successfully separated from its #Ariane5 launcher #VA238 @ISRO.”

ISRO, which has been dependent on Ariane-5 rocket for carrying its heavier satellites, is developing GSLV Mk III for this purpose.

The director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre Dr K Sivan who watched the launch from the mission control centre thanked Arianespace and called it a ‘text book mission’.”GSAT-17 is a need of the hour for ISRO and India as it provides the continuity in services of ageing two satellites, as well as augmenting our transponder capability, and widening our horizon to mobile satellite services as well as to Antarctica areas,” he said.

“GSAT-17’s co-passenger Hellas Sat 3-Inmarsat S EAN is a two-payload “condosat” produced by Thales Alenia Space for Hellas Sat and Inmarsat. Once in orbit, the Hellas Sat 3 component will deliver direct-to-home and telecom services to maintain and expand Hellas Sat’s business reach, while the Inmarsat S EAN component provides the satellite portion of Inmarsat’s new European Aviation Network,” the PTI report said.

Hellas Sat (member of the Arabsat Group) is a premium satellite operator, offering services in Europe, the Middle East and South Africa from the orbital position of 39 East. Inmarsat is the leading provider of global mobile satellite communications services. The total payload carried on Flight VA238 is approximately 10,177 kg.

WATCH VIDEO: ISRO’s GSAT-17 launched successfully from French Guiana

GSAT-17’s launch will be the 21st satellite from ISRO by Arianespace, and it’s designed in-orbit operational life is about 15 years. After its injection into GTO, ISRO’s Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan takes control of GSAT-17 and performs the initial orbit raising maneuvers using the Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) of the satellite, placing it in circular Geostationary Orbit, the Indian space agency has said.</s>ISRO on Thursday saw its GSAT-17 communication satellite being flown into space by an Ariane 5 launch vehicle from the Kourou launch facility in French Guiana. The launch happened at 2.45 am India time. This was the third launch of a communication satellite by ISRO in the last two months. On May 5, GSAT-9, popularly known as the South Asia satellite, had flown on ISRO’s own GSLV rocket. Exactly a month later, on June 5, GSAT-19 was launched into space by GSLV-MkIII rocket D1.

In between, on June 23, ISRO had also launched a Cartosat-2 series satellite on a PSLV-C38 rocket. The 3477-kg GSAT-17 will strengthen ISRO’s fleet of 17 operational telecom satellites that are already in space. It will ensure continuity of fixed satellite services in the normal C and upper extended C bands, and also provide mobile satellite services in S-band. The satellite also carries equipment for meteorological data relay and satellite-based search and rescue services.

GSAT-17 is the kind of heavy satellite that ISRO till now has been dependent on foreign partners like Arianespace to launch. Before the successful launch of GSLV-MkIII-D1 earlier this month, ISRO did not have the capability to launch satellites heavier than 2500 kg into space. But now that it has that capability, more and more of these heavier satellites, including those of other countries, are likely to be launched on GSLV rockets.

The GSAT-9 launched last month weighed 2230 kg while the GSAT-19 had a mass of 3136 kg.

For all the latest Technology News, download Indian Express App</s>Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)’s communication satellite GSAT-17 will be launched early Thursday morning around 2:00 am onboard Arianespace rocket from Kourou Launch Base in French Guiana. ISRO said, “GSAT-17 is scheduled to be launched at 2:29 hrs IST on June 29 by the Ariane-5 launch vehicle”, according to the news agency PTI.

The 3,477 kg GSAT-17 will carry payloads in normal C-band, extended C-band and S-band to provide various communication services. According to the space agency, the satellite also carries equipment for meteorological data relay and satellite-based search and rescue services being provided by earlier INSAT satellites.

This is the third satellite launch by ISRO in June. The earth observation Cartosat 2 series satellite on-board the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) – C38 and the heavyweight Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark III are the previous ones. Both were launched from Sriharikota spacesport. GSLV MkIII successfully launched GSAT-19 satellite on June 5 while PSLV-C38 orbited Cartosat-2 Series satellite along with 30 co-passenger satellites on June 23 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.

Apart from GSAT 17, the Ariane-5 launch vehicle will also launch another communication satellite- Hellas Sat 3-Inmarsat S EAN. This is the fourth Ariane-5 mission in 2017, as reported by NDTV. The launch will be from Ariane Launch Complex No 3 in Kourou, French Guiana, and the total payload that will be carried on Flight VA238 is approximately 10,177 kg.

Hellas Sat 3-Inmarsat S EAN is positioned as the upper passenger on Ariane 5, and will be released first during the flight, followed by GSAT-17’s deployment from the launcher’s lower payload position, Arianespace said. It is expected that the mission from liftoff to deployment of the two satellites into Geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) will take about 39 minutes.

For all the latest India News, download Indian Express App</s>BENGALURU: India's latest communication satellite GSAT-17 was today successfully launched by a heavy duty rocket of Arianespace from Kourou in French Guiana, adding teeth to its current fleet of 17 working communication satellites.

The GSAT series of geosynchronous satellites is a system developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation(ISRO) with an objective to make the country self-reliant in broadcasting services.

The European launcher Arianespace Flight VA238 blasted off from Ariane Launch Complex No 3 (ELA 3) at Kourou, a French territory located in northeastern coast of South America at 2:45 am IST, a few minutes behind the scheduled time of 2:29 am.

The 3,477-kg GSAT-17 was injected shortly after orbiting co-passenger Hellas Sat 3-Inmarsat S EAN in a flawless flight lasting about 39 minutes.

"GSAT-17 successfully launched by Ariane-5 VA-238 from Kourou, French Guiana," the city-headquartered ISRO announced after the mission. The designed in-orbit operational life of GSAT-17 is about 15 years, it said.

ISRO's Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan in Karnataka took over the command and control of GSAT-17 immediately after its separation from the launch vehicle, and the preliminary health checks of the satellite revealed its normal functioning.

Configured around I-3K extended bus, GSAT-17 with a lift-off mass of about 3,477 kg carries payloads in Normal C- band, Extended C-band and S-band to provide various communication services.

It also carries equipment for meteorological data relay and satellite based search and rescue services being provided by earlier INSAT satellites.

GSAT-17 that will strengthen ISRO’s current fleet of 17 telecommunications satellites was launched into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).

This was the third satellite launch mission by ISRO this month, the other two being first developmental flight of GSLV MkIII and PSLV C-38 missions--both from Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh.

GSLV MkIII successfully launched GSAT-19 satellite on June 5 while PSLV-C38 orbited Cartosat-2 Series satellite along with 30 co-passenger satellites on June 23 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. GSAT-17 is also ISRO's third communication satellite to successfully reach orbit in the past two months.

ISRO, which has been dependent on Ariane-5 rocket for carrying its heavier satellites, is developing GSLV Mk III for this purpose.

Announcing the successful launch of the satellite, Arianespace CEO Stephane Israel tweeted: "Confirmed: GSAT-17 has successfully separated from its #Ariane5 launcher #VA238 @ISRO."

Thanking Arianespace, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre Dr K Sivan, who watched the launch from the mission control centre called it a "text book mission".

Describing the launch as a special mission for ISRO, he said, "GSAT-17 is a need of the hour for ISRO and India as it provides the continuity in services of ageing two satellites, as well as augmenting our transponder capability, and widening our horizon to mobile satellite services as well as to Antarctica areas."

GSAT-17 was the 21st satellite from ISRO to be launched by Arianespace.

In the coming days, orbit raising manoeuvres will be performed to place GSAT-17 satellite in the Geostationary Orbit (36,000 km above the equator) by using the satellite’s propulsion system in steps, the space agency has said.

During the final stages of its orbit raising operations, the two solar arrays and both the antenna reflectors of GSAT- 17 will be deployed and following this, the satellite will be put in its final orbital configuration.

It said GSAT-17 will be positioned at its designated orbital slot in the geostationary orbit and will be co-located with some of the Indian operational geostationary satellites, and later it is planned to turn on the communication payloads of the satellite.

After the successful completion of all the in-orbit tests, GSAT-17 will be ready for operational use.

GSAT-17’s co-passenger Hellas Sat 3-Inmarsat S EAN is a two-payload "condosat" produced by Thales Alenia Space for Hellas Sat and Inmarsat.

Once in orbit, the Hellas Sat 3 component will deliver direct-to-home and telecom services to maintain and expand Hellas Sat’s business reach, while the Inmarsat S EAN component provides the satellite portion of Inmarsat’s new European Aviation Network.

Hellas Sat (member of the Arabsat Group) is a premium satellite operator, offering services in Europe, the Middle East and South Africa from the orbital position of 39 East.

Inmarsat is the leading provider of global mobile satellite communications services. The total payload carried on Flight VA238 is approximately 10,177 kg</s>Chennai, June 28: India on Thursday will augment its fleet of communication satellites with the launch of GSAT-17 through Ariane 5 rocket, said the European Space Agency Arianespace.

The rocket is expected to blast off from the European spaceport in French Guinea with GSAT-17 and Hellas Sat 3-Immarsat S EAN. The total weight to be lifted by the rocket will be 10,177 kg or just over 10 tonne.

"GSAT-17, to be deployed from Ariane 5's lower passenger position, was built by the Indian Space Research Organisation to strengthen its current fleet of 17 telecommunications satellites. The spacecraft's separation will occur approximately 41 minutes after lift-off," Arianespace said.

According to ISRO, GSAT-17 is configured around I-3K extended bus with a lift-off mass of about 3,477 kg. GSAT-17 carries Payloads in Normal C-band, Extended C-band and S-band to provide various communication services.

GSAT-17 also carries equipment for metereological data relay and satellite based search and rescue services being provided by earlier INSAT satellites, ISRO said.</s>New Delhi: The GSAT-17, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)’s latest communication satellite, was on Thursday successfully launched into space from the spaceport of Kourou in French Guiana using a heavy duty rocket Ariane-5 VA-238.

The European launcher Arianespace Flight VA238 blasted off from Ariane Launch Complex No 3 (ELA 3) at Kourou, a French territory located in northeastern coast of South America, couple of minutes delayed than the scheduled time of 2:29 hrs IST, PTI reported.

"GSAT-17 successfully launched by Ariane-5 VA-238 from Kourou, French Guiana," the city headquartered ISRO announced after the mission.

Configured around I-3K extended bus, GSAT-17 carries payloads in Normal C- band, Extended C-band and S-band to provide various communication services.

It also carries equipment for meteorological data relay and satellite based search and rescue services being provided by earlier INSAT satellites.

GSAT-17 was injected shortly after orbiting co-passenger Hellas Sat 3-Inmarsat S EAN in a flawless flight lasting about 41 minutes.

GSAT-17 that will strengthen ISRO's current fleet of 17 telecommunications satellites was launched into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).

Thursday's mission was the third satellite launch by ISRO this month, the other two being first developmental flight of GSLV MkIII and PSLV C-38 missions - both from Sriharikota spaceport.

GSLV MkIII successfully launched GSAT-19 satellite on June 5 while PSLV-C38 orbited Cartosat-2 Series satellite along with 30 co-passenger satellites on June 23 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.

ISRO, which has been dependent on Ariane-5 rocket for carrying its heavier satellites, is developing GSLV Mk III for this purpose.

Announcing the successful launch of the satellite, Arianespace CEO Stephane Israel tweeted: "Confirmed: GSAT-17 has successfully separated from its #Ariane5 launcher #VA238 @ISRO "

Thanking Arianespace, Director Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre Dr K Sivan who watched the launch from the mission control centre called it a "text book mission".

GSAT-17's co-passenger Hellas Sat 3-Inmarsat S EAN is a two-payload "condosat" produced by Thales Alenia Space for Hellas Sat and Inmarsat.

Hellas Sat (member of the Arabsat Group) is a premium satellite operator, offering services in Europe, the Middle East and South Africa from the orbital position of 39 East.

Once in orbit, the Hellas Sat 3 component will deliver direct-to-home and telecom services to maintain and expand Hellas Sat's business reach, while the Inmarsat S EAN component provides the satellite portion of Inmarsat's new European Aviation Network. Inmarsat is the leading provider of global mobile satellite communications services.

After its injection into GTO, ISRO's Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan takes control of GSAT-17 and performs the initial orbit raising maneuvers using the Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) of the satellite, placing it in circular Geostationary Orbit, the Indian space agency has said.

GSAT-17 will be the 21st satellite from ISRO to be launched by Arianespace, and its designed in-orbit operational life is about 15 years.

The total payload carried on Flight VA238 is approximately 10,177 kg.</s>New Delhi, June 28: The Indian Space Research Organisation will launch its communication satellite GSAT-17 from the Spaceport in French Guiana on June 29. This will be the third launch of ISRO in less than a month. As per the ISRO, the GSAT-17 would be launched at around 2:29 hours IST on June 29, 2017, onboard Ariane-5 launch vehicle.

Start the conversation, or Read more at India.com.</s>New Delhi: Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Thursday congratulated the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for the successful launch of India`s latest communication satellite GSAT-17.

"Right from its inception, the space scientists at ISRO have worked hard to bolster the scientific temper of this country. This latest addition to its long list of achievements has once again made every Indian proud," she said in a statement.

India on Thursday added GSAT-17 to its fleet of communication satellites after it was launched into orbit by heavy lift rocket Ariane 5 from Kourou in French Guinea, said the European Space Agency Arianespace.

Arianespace said the GSAT-17 with a mass at lift-off of 3,476 kg would expand the ISRO`s current fleet of 17 telecommunication satellites.

"It is to provide continuity of Fixed Satellite Services (FSS) in Normal C and Upper Extended C bands as well as Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) in S-band and Data Relay and Search and Rescue services in UHF band - operating from a final orbital position of 93.5 degrees East," it said.

Arianespace said it has launched 21 satellites for ISRO, extending a relationship that dates back to 1981 with the launch of APPLE experimental satellite.

ISRO said its Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan in Karnataka took over the command and control of GSAT-17 immediately after its separation from the rocket.

Preliminary health checks of the satellite revealed its normal functioning.</s>Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) communication satellite, GSAT-17 will take off onboard the Ariane 5 launch vehicle from the Guiana Space Center at French Guiana tomorrow. The 3,477-kg GSAT 17, with a mission life of 15 years, is latest in the line of ISRO’s communication satellite to be put in the geostationary orbit. Apart from communication services, it will relay meteorological and satellite-based data and help with rescue services, earlier provided by geostationary satellites called Indian National Satellite System or INSAT. GSAT-17 is scheduled to be launched tomorrow (June 29, 2017) at 02:29 AM IST. This is ISRO’s third satellite launch in June, the recent one being, the earth observation Cartosat 2 series satellite via the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) – C38 and earlier it had launched the heavyweight Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark III. As far as the place of launch is concerned, India has a long-standing strategic partnership and it reflects the strong relationship between India and France in the space sector.

GSAT-17 is basically a communication satellite configured around I-3K extended bus with a lift-off mass of about 3,477 kg. GSAT-17 carries Payloads in Normal C-band, Extended C-band and S-band to provide various communication services. Built by ISRO, GSAT‑17 will strengthen its current fleet of 17 operational telecom satellites. It will provide continuity of Fixed Satellite Services (FSS) in Normal C and Upper Extended C bands. It also will provide Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) in S-band and Data Relay and Search & Rescue services in UHF band. After choosing Arianespace to launch its GSAT-17 and GSAT-18 satellites in 2015, ISRO has also selected Arianespace to launch its planned GSAT-11 satellite.

About Ariane 5 Mission:

 GSAT-17 will be the 21st satellite from ISRO to be launched by Arianespace. For its seventh launch of 2017, and the fourth Ariane 5 mission in 2017 from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana, Arianespace will orbit two payloads: Hellas Sat 3-Inmarsat S EAN, a ‘condosat’ for Inmarsat and Hellas-Sat; and GSAT-17 for the Indian space agency ISRO. With this 290th mission performed by its family of launchers, Arianespace is at the service of three major satellites operators: Hellas Sat, Inmarsat and ISRO.</s>India on Thursday launched its fleet of communication satellites GSAT-17 through French rocket Ariane-5 successfully launching the 3,477-kg satellite from French Guiana.

The satellite has been inducted into the Indian National Satellite (INSAT)/GSAT system.

According to ISRO, GSAT-17 is configured around I-3K extended bus with a lift-off mass of about 3,477 kg. GSAT-17 carries Payloads in Normal C-band, Extended C-band and S-band to provide various communication services.

GSAT-17 also carries equipment for metereological data relay and satellite based search and rescue services being provided by earlier INSAT satellites, ISRO said.

The GSAT-17 is the third satellite launched by ISRO in a month. Last week on June 23, India's space agency launched the Cartosat 2 series satellite from Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. On June 5, ISRO launched the heaviest geostationary rocket, the GSLV MK III that carried the communication satellite GSAT-19 into space.
ISRO launches communications satellite GSAT-17 from French Guiana.