Officials reported that the core booster burned for 100 seconds, and its stage one strap-on motors fired for 162 seconds after launch, separating from the rising stack at an altitude of 75 km. Stage two was jettisoned at 314 seconds into the flight, followed by ignition of the third, cryogenic stage. This final propulsive stage burned for 693 seconds, lifting itself and the attached satellite test vehicle to 195 km. and a geostationary transfer orbit. ISRO officials reported Wednesday the satellite has successfully separated from the cryogenic stage and was en route to GTO. An apogee motor attached to the satellite will be used to insert the craft, named the GSAT-1, into its final 36,000 km. Geosynchronous orbit. Solar array deployment and orientation of the satellite were the next events on the spacecraft's schedule.

An earlier launch try ended in a pad abort seconds before liftoff when the vehicle's ground launch sequencer detected an underthrust in one of the strap-on motors. A spare engine was used to replace the faulty device and make ready for today's second, successful launch attempt. The GSLV joins India's PSLV as a two-vehicle launch stable capable of servicing Polar, Sunsynchronous, and Geosynchronous orbits with remote sensing and telecommunications payloads. It would compare roughly with the U.S. Delta II booster.

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