The satellite was launched on 5 October 2016 at approximately 20:30 UTC aboard an Ariane 5 ECA rocket from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana.

[1][6] The total cost of the satellite and launch services was about US$153 million.

[7] GSAT-18 was originally scheduled to launch on 12 July 2016 alongside Japan's Superbird-8 satellite, but a shipping mishap which damaged Superbird-8 forced a delay in the launch schedule.

[8][9] Arianespace later paired GSAT-18 with Australia's Sky Muster II for a 4 October 2016 launch.

[11] Orbit raising operations were made using an on-board LAM and chemical thrusters[2] to place the satellite in the intended geostationary orbital slot.