Narendra Modi congratulates scientists on launch of GSAT-18 satellite

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday congratulated Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientists for the successful launch of communication satellite GSAT-18, saying it was another "milestone" in India's space programme.

"Congratulations to ISRO for successfully launching the communication satellite, GSAT-18. This is another milestone for our space programme," he said in a tweet.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Congratulations to <a href="https://twitter.com/isro">@isro</a> for successfully launching the communication satellite, GSAT-18. This is another milestone for our space programme.</p>— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) <a href="https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/783852934555656192">October 6, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

GSAT-18 was successfully launched by a heavy duty rocket of Arianespace from the spaceport of Kourou in French Guiana.

Built by ISRO, the satellite aims at providing telecommunications services for the country by strengthening ISRO's current fleet of 14 operational telecommunication satellites.