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.