After a smooth countdown lasting 11 hours and 30 minutes, the Ariane-5 launch vehicle of the French commercial space transportation company Arianespace lifted off on schedule at the opening of the launch window at 1.24 AM IST.

The rocket, after a flight of 32 minutes and 48 seconds, placed INSAT-3D in an elliptical Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO), very close to the intended one. Soon after the separation of INSAT-3D from Ariane-5 s upper cryogenic stage, the satellite's solar panel automatically got deployed and ISRO's Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan in Karnataka took over the control of the spacecraft.