Gsat-18

GSAT-18
Mission type	Communications
Operator	INSAT
COSPAR ID	2016-060A
SATCAT no.	41793
Website	GSAT-18
Mission duration	Planned: 15 years ; Elapsed: 7 years, 7 months, 17 days
Spacecraft properties
Bus	I-3K
Manufacturer	ISRO Satellite Centre; Space Applications Centre
Launch mass	3,404 kg (7,505 lb)
Dry mass	1,480 kg (3,263 lb)
Power	6,474 watts
Start of mission
Launch date	5 October 2016, ≈20:30 UTC
Rocket	Ariane 5 ECA, VA-231
Launch site	Guiana Space Centre ELA-3
Contractor	Arianespace
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Geostationary
Longitude	74° E
Perigee altitude	35,750 km (22,214 mi)
Apogee altitude	35,822 km (22,259 mi)
Inclination	0.0616°
Epoch	11 June 2017 01:46:00 UTC
Transponders
Band	24 × C band ; 12 × extended C band ; 12 × Ku band ; 2 × Ku beacon
	GSAT ← GSAT-15 GSAT-9 →

GSAT-18 is an Indian communications satellite. Built by ISRO and operated by INSAT, it carries 24 C-band, 12 extended C-band, and 12 K_u-band transponders.

The satellite was launched on 5 October 2016 at approximately 20:30 UTC aboard an Ariane 5 ECA rocket from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana.^[3]^[5] The launch vehicle inserted the satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit, and once in service it will occupy the orbital slot at 74° East longitude.^[1]^[6] The total cost of the satellite and launch services was about US$153 million.^[7]

GSAT-18 was originally scheduled to launch on 12 July 2016 alongside Japan's Superbird-8 satellite, but a shipping mishap which damaged Superbird-8 forced a delay in the launch schedule.^[8]^[9] Arianespace later paired GSAT-18 with Australia's Sky Muster II for a 4 October 2016 launch.^[10] The launch was delayed 24 hours to 5 October due to excessively high crosswinds at the launch site.^[11]

Orbit raising and station keeping

Orbit raising operations were made using an on-board LAM and chemical thrusters^[2] to place the satellite in the intended geostationary orbital slot.

Op #	Date/ Time (UTC)	LAM burn time	Height achieved		Inclination achieved	Orbital period	References
Op #	Date/ Time (UTC)	LAM burn time	Apogee	Perigee	Inclination achieved	Orbital period	References
1	6 October 2016 10:16	6040.6 sec	35,802 km (22,246 mi)	14,843 km (9,223 mi)	1.325°	15 hrs, 36 mins	^[12]
2	8 October 2016 05:59	-	35,840 km (22,270 mi)	32,518 km (20,206 mi)	0.129°	22 hrs, 34 mins	^[13]
3	9 October 2016 04:51	256.17 sec	35,802 km (22,246 mi)	35,294 km (21,931 mi)	0.136°	23 hrs, 44 mins	^[14]^[15]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Annual Report 2015-2016" (PDF). Indian Space Research Organisation. December 2015. p. 28. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-07-05.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "GSAT-18" (PDF). Indian Space Research Organisation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-12-13. Retrieved 2017-06-12.
^ ^a ^b Bergin, Chris (5 October 2016). "Ariane 5 launches Sky Muster II and GSAT-18". NASA Spaceflight. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
^ "GSAT-18 - Orbit". Heavens-Above. 11 June 2017. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
^ "India's communication satellite GSAT-18 launched successfully". Business Standard. Press Trust of India. 6 October 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
^ "Launch Schedule". Spaceflight Now. 4 October 2016. Archived from the original on 5 October 2016.
^ Clark, Stephen (5 October 2016). "Ariane 5 goes on test run after launching two satellites". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
^ de Selding, Peter B. (20 June 2016). "Japan's DSN-1 military communications satellite damaged during transport to launch base". Space News. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
^ D. S., Madhumathi (10 July 2016). "Deferred GSAT-18 awaits October launch at Kourou". The Hindu. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
^ "Sky Muster II comes to French Guiana for launch on Ariane 5". Arianespace. 31 August 2016. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
^ "Bad weather delays Isro's launch of communications satellite GSAT-18". Hindustan Times. Press Trust of India. 5 October 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
^ "The first orbit raising manoeuvre..." Indian Space Research Organisation. 7 October 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
^ "The second orbit raising manoeuvre..." Indian Space Research Organisation. 8 October 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
^ "Third LAM firing of GSAT-18..." Indian Space Research Organisation. 9 October 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
^ "Orbit Determination results..." Indian Space Research Organisation. 9 October 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2017.

[AR2016-1] "Annual Report 2015-2016" (PDF). Indian Space Research Organisation. December 2015. p. 28. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-07-05.

[brochure-2] "GSAT-18" (PDF). Indian Space Research Organisation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-12-13. Retrieved 2017-06-12.

[nasasf20161005-3] Bergin, Chris (5 October 2016). "Ariane 5 launches Sky Muster II and GSAT-18". NASA Spaceflight. Retrieved 6 October 2016.

[heavens-above-4] "GSAT-18 - Orbit". Heavens-Above. 11 June 2017. Retrieved 12 June 2017.

[busistan20161006-5] "India's communication satellite GSAT-18 launched successfully". Business Standard. Press Trust of India. 6 October 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2016.

[sfn_ls-6] "Launch Schedule". Spaceflight Now. 4 October 2016. Archived from the original on 5 October 2016.

[sfnow20161005-7] Clark, Stephen (5 October 2016). "Ariane 5 goes on test run after launching two satellites". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 6 October 2016.

[sn20160620-8] Selding, Peter B. (20 June 2016). "Japan's DSN-1 military communications satellite damaged during transport to launch base". Space News. Retrieved 10 September 2016.

[hindu20160710-9] D. S., Madhumathi (10 July 2016). "Deferred GSAT-18 awaits October launch at Kourou". The Hindu. Retrieved 10 September 2016.

[10] "Sky Muster II comes to French Guiana for launch on Ariane 5". Arianespace. 31 August 2016. Retrieved 10 September 2016.

[hindustan20161005-11] "Bad weather delays Isro's launch of communications satellite GSAT-18". Hindustan Times. Press Trust of India. 5 October 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2016.

[12] "The first orbit raising manoeuvre..." Indian Space Research Organisation. 7 October 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2017.

[13] "The second orbit raising manoeuvre..." Indian Space Research Organisation. 8 October 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2017.

[14] "Third LAM firing of GSAT-18..." Indian Space Research Organisation. 9 October 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2017.

[15] "Orbit Determination results..." Indian Space Research Organisation. 9 October 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2017.

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v t e GSAT satellites
Past	GSAT-1† (Apr 2001) GSAT-2 (May 2003) GSAT-3 / EDUSAT (Sep 2004) GSAT-4† (Apr 2010) GSAT-5P† (Dec 2010)
Active	GSAT-8 / INSAT-4G (May 2011) GSAT-12 (Jul 2011) GSAT-10 (Sep 2012) GSAT-7 / INSAT-4F (Aug 2013) GSAT-14 (Jan 2014) GSAT-16 (Dec 2014) GSAT-6 / INSAT-4E (Aug 2015) GSAT-15 (Nov 2015) GSAT-18 (Oct 2016) GSAT-9 / South Asia Satellite (May 2017) GSAT-19 (Jun 2017) GSAT-17 (Jun 2017) GSAT-6A (Mar 2018) GSAT-29 (Nov 2018) GSAT-11 (Dec 2018) GSAT-7A (Dec 2018) GSAT-31 (Feb 2019) GSAT-30 (Jan 2020) CMS-01 / GSAT-12R (Dec 2020) CMS-02 / GSAT-24 (Jun 2022)
Planned	GSAT-7B GSAT-7C GSAT-7R GSAT-20 GSAT-21 GSAT-22 GSAT-23 GSAT-25 GSAT-26 GSAT-27 GSAT-28 GSAT-32 GSAT-UHF
Cancelled	GSAT-5 / INSAT-4D
Signs † indicate launch failures.

v t e ← 2015 Orbital launches in 2016 2017 →
January	Belintersat-1 Jason-3 IRNSS-1E Intelsat 29e Eutelsat 9B
February	BeiDou M3-S USA-266 / GPS IIF -12 Kosmos 2514 / GLONASS-M 751 Kwangmyŏngsŏng-4 USA-267 / Topaz-4 Sentinel-3A ASTRO-H / Hitomi
March	SES-9 Eutelsat 65 West A IRNSS-1F Resurs-P №3 ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, Schiaparelli EDM Soyuz TMA-20M Cygnus CRS OA-6 ( Diwata-1, Flock-2e' × 20 , Lemur-2 × 9) Kosmos 2515 / Bars-M 2L BeiDou IGSO-6 Progress MS-02
April	Shijian-10 Dragon CRS-8, BEAM Sentinel-1B, MICROSCOPE, e-st@r-II Mikhailo Lomonosov IRNSS-1G
May	JCSAT-14 Yaogan 30 Galileo FOC-10, FOC-11 Thaicom 8 Kosmos 2516 / GLONASS-M 753 Ziyuan III-02, ÑuSat 1, 2
June	Kosmos 2517 / Geo-IK-2 №12 Intelsat 31 / DLA-2 USA-268 / Orion 9 BeiDou G7 Eutelsat 117 West B, ABS-2A Cartosat-2C, M3MSat, Flock-2p × 12, SathyabamaSat, Swayam MUOS-5 Chinese next-generation crew capsule scale model Shijian 16-02
July	Soyuz MS-01 Progress MS-03 Dragon CRS-9 USA-269 / NROL-61
August	Tiantong-1 01 Gaofen-3 JCSAT-16 QUESS / Mozi / Micius USA-270 / GSSAP-3, USA-271 / GSSAP-4 Intelsat 33e, Intelsat 36 Gaofen-10†
September	AMOS-6† INSAT-3DR OSIRIS-REx Ofek-11 Tiangong-2 SkySat × 4 ScatSat-1, Alsat-1B, Alsat-2B, BlackSky Pathfinder-1, Pratham, CanX-7, PISat
October	Sky Muster II, GSAT-18 Shenzhou 11 Cygnus CRS OA-5 ( Lemur-2 × 4) Soyuz MS-02
November	Himawari 9 Shijian-17 XPNAV 1 WorldView-4, CELTEE 1, Prometheus-2 × 2, AeroCube 8 × 2, U2U, RAVAN Yunhai-1 Galileo FOC 7, 12, 13, 14 Soyuz MS-03 GOES-R Tianlian I-04
December	Progress MS-04 Göktürk-1 Resourcesat-2A WGS-8 HTV-6 / Kounotori 6, (EGG, TuPOD, UBAKUSAT, AOBA-VELOX, STARS, FREEDOM, ITF, Waseda-SAT, OSNSAT, Tancredo-1, TechEDSat, Lemur-2 × 4) Fengyun 4A CYGNSS × 8 EchoStar 19 Arase / ERG TanSat, Spark × 2 Star One D1, JCSAT-15 SuperView / Gaojing-1 01, 02, Bayi Kepu 1
Launches are separated by dots ( • ), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ). Crewed flights are underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses).