It was a perfect launch. At exactly 02.08 a.m. Indian time on Saturday, from Kourou, French Guiana the 800-tonne Ariane 5 launcher carrying two communications satellites weighing over 9000 kilos in its nose fairing, blasted off into space. India’s GSAT-8, the largest and heaviest satellite built by ISRO and its partners weighing 3,100 kg , was one of the two "co-passengers" on the flight. The other, an even heavier satellite weighing 5 tonnes was from Singapore and Taiwan.