The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has chosen Arianespace to launch its GSAT-11 telecommunications satellite.

The satellite will be launched by an Ariane 5 launch vehicle, from the Guiana Space Center, Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, in 2017. The GSAT-11 satellite, designed, assembled and integrated by ISRO, will weigh about 5,725 kg at launch.

GSAT-11 is an advanced communication satellite with multi spot beam coverage over the Indian mainland and nearby Islands to bring huge advantage to the user community, compared with the existing INSAT/GSAT satellite systems.

With this new system architecture and the cutting-edge technology elements proposed to be employed for realization, GSAT-11 will generate a capacity of more than 12 Gbps for users from a single platform.

Commenting on this contract, Arianespace Chairman and CEO Stéphane Israël said: “We are very proud to announce this new contract with the Indian Space Research Organization, as we are gearing up for the launch of GSAT-18 on October 4, our 20th satellite launch for ISRO. Widely known for its exemplary successes, ISRO has placed its trust in Arianespace for the last 35 years. For us, this continued partnership is clear recognition of our ability to provide reliable launch services, perfectly tailored to our customer’s needs.”

About Arianespace

To use space for a better life on earth, Arianespace guarantees access to space transportation services and solutions for any type of satellite, commercial as well as institutional, into any orbit. Since 1980, Arianespace has performed missions placing more than 500 satellites into orbit with its three launchers: Ariane, Soyuz and Vega. Arianespace is headquartered in Evry, France near Paris, and has a facility at the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana, plus local offices in Washington, D.C., Tokyo and Singapore.