India was in the spotlight at the Spaceport in French Guiana this week as its GSAT-7 communications satellite was mated to the Ariane 5 for Arianespace’s August 29 launch, and mission team members gathered to celebrate the country’s Independence Day.

A flag-raising ceremony in front of the Spaceport’s S5 payload preparation facility was part of the Indian Independence Day celebration with GSAT-7 mission team members and Arianespace personnel.

A flag-raising ceremony in front of the Spaceport’s S5 payload preparation facility was part of the Indian Independence Day celebration with GSAT-7 mission team members and Arianespace personnel.

During activity in the Final Assembly Building for Ariane 5, GSAT-7 was installed atop the heavy-lift launcher, positioning this spacecraft as the lower passenger in the payload “stack.” 

The protective container with GSAT-7 is moved into Ariane 5’s Final Assembly Building, where this Indian communications satellite was mated with its heavy-lift launcher.

GSAT-7 will provide relay capacity in UHF, S-band, C-band and Ku-band from an orbital position of 74 deg. East., with a liftoff mass estimated at 2,550 kg.  Developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation, it utilizes India’s standard I-2K spacecraft bus, the same as for the country’s INSAT-3D meteorological satellite orbited on Arianespace’s previous Ariane 5 mission, performed July 25.

Following GSAT-7’s integration on Ariane 5, members of the satellite team joined with Arianespace personnel to celebrate India’s Independence Day on August 15. As part of the observance, a flag-raising ceremony was held at the Spaceport’s S5 payload preparation facility, where GSAT-7 had undergone its pre-launch checkout and fueling.

The August 29 mission with GSAT-7 will be Arianespace’s fourth Ariane 5 liftoff of 2013, and also will carry the EUTELSAT 25B/Es’hail 1 telecommunications platform in another of the heavy-lift launcher’s dual-passenger flights.