GSAT-10, India's advanced communication satellite, has been successfully launched early Saturday morning from the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

Weighing 3,400kg, the GSAT-10 is the heaviest satellite built by Bangalore-based Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It was the Indian space agency's 101st space mission.

Arianespace's Ariane-5 ECA rocket launched the Indian satellite around half an hour after the blast off the European Spaceport in South America at 2.48 am, previous to which it injected Europe's co-passenger ASTRA 2F into orbit.

The GSAT-10 has been equipped with a total of thirty transponders, of which twelve are Ku-band, twelve are C-band and six are Extended C-Band. The equipment will offer crucial augmentation to INSAT/GSAT transponder capacity. The satellite will help enhance telecommunications, radio navigation and direct-to-home services immensely.

K Radhakrishnan, chairman of ISRO, said that Hassan, Karnataka-based master control facility (MCF) had already taken command & control of the satellite.

Speaking about the launch of the satellite, Radhakrishnan added, "By November 2012, we expect to operationalise GSAT-10 and make it available to the user community."

The Rs 750-crore GSAT-10 project, was originally slated for a September 22 launch, but was deferred after scientists discovered a glitch - one gram of dust - in the upper part of the rocket.