India launches its biggest ever rocket:Capsule onboard the mighty GSLV Mk-III could one day carry astronauts into space.
India successfully launched its biggest ever rocket today in an effort to ramp up its ambitious space programme.
The rocket, designed to carry heavier communication and other satellites into higher orbit, blasted off from Sriharikota in the southeast state of Andhra Pradesh.
'This was a very significant day in the history of (the) Indian space programme,' Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman K.SRadhakrishnan said from mission control.
Although India has successfully launched lighter satellites in recent years, it has struggled to match the heavier loads sent up by other countries.
The new rocket, weighing 630 tonnes and capable of carrying 4 tonnes, is a boost for India's attempts to grab a greaterslice of the £190 billion ($300 billion) global space market.