GSAT-17: India's latest communication satellite launched from French Guiana

India successfully launched its latest communication satellite GSAT-17 on Thursday morning by a heavy duty rocket of Arianespace from Kourou in French Guiana.

It holds a configuration of around I-3K extended bus with a lift-off mass of about 3,477 kg. This will be 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.

The satellite provides various communication services with payloads in normal C- band, extended C-band and S-band. It also carries equipment to aid meteorology and search and rescue operations primarily over the Indian sub-continent being provided by earlier INSAT satellites.

"The satellite is designed to provide continuity of services of operational satellites in C, extended C, and S bands, and will be launched into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO)", Isro said. ISRO Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar has said a few times that they need double the number of communication spacecraft to meet the growing demands of various users across the country.

Read more: SpaceX launches 10 satellites on board its Falcon 9 rocket

Arianespace said this was its 21st Indian launch since the APPLE experimental satellite in 1981. ISRO's upcoming 5,000-kg-plus heavy satellite, GSAT-11, will also be launched by Arianespace.

GSAT-17's co-passenger has two operators. 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 inflight Internet facilities for European airlines, as signified in the satellite's tag EAN or European Aviation Network.

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

Read more: ISRO PSLV-C38 launch: 10 things you should know

Noting it 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."