After a day's postponement due to a technical snag, India’s latest satellite, INSAT 4B was successfully launched into space from Kourou, French Guyana, on Monday morning.

The second in the INSAT-4 series, the satellite is carrying 12 high-power Ku-band transponders and 12 C-band transponders to augment Direct-To-Home (DTH) television services and other communication facilities.

The launch, by the European Ariane-5 ECA launch vehicle of Arianespace, was originally scheduled for Sunday but was postponed following a problem in the water deluge system which is used to reduce the acoustic levels for the safety of the launch pad.

About 30 minutes after today's lift-off, the satellite was placed in the Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit, a press release from the Indian Space Research Organisation said.

Seven of the 12 Ku-band transponders on the satellite, which enable DTH broadcasting, have been booked by Sun TV which will soon become the third private player in the rapidly expanding DTH market in India. The market is currently dominated by Zee network's Dish TV and Tata-Sky, a joint venture of the Tata group and Star TV.