India shows off space prowess with launch of mega-rocket

NEW DELHI: India Monday successfully launched its most powerful home-produced rocket, another milestone for its indigenous space programme which one day hopes to put a human into orbit, reports AFP.The 43-metre (140-foot) rocket hurtled into a clear sky at 5:28 pm (1158 GMT) from the southern island of Sriharikota, one of two sites used by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to launch satellites.Scientists hugged each other and cheered as the 640-tonne rocket lifted off. "The GSLV - MKIII D1/GSAT-19 mission takes India closer to the next generation launch vehicle and satellite capability," Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on his Twitter account."The nation is proud!"
The rocket boasts a powerful engine that has been developed in India over many years. Programme managers hope to reduce reliance on European engines that have propelled some of India's spacecraft in the past.The GSLV Mk III rocket carried a satellite weighing more than three tonnes into a high orbit above Earth, a landmark achievement as India had struggled to match the heavier payloads of other space giants."This is an important moment in India's space technology, to launch an indigenous heavy rocket," Ajay Lele from the Delhi-based Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses told AFP. "Communication satellites are quite heavy and we were (only) able to send up to two tonnes previously. This is a double quantum jump for India."

 

 

India shows off space prowess with launch of mega-rocket

NEW DELHI: India Monday successfully launched its most powerful home-produced rocket, another milestone for its indigenous space programme which one day hopes to put a human into orbit, reports AFP.The 43-metre (140-foot) rocket hurtled into a clear sky at 5:28 pm (1158 GMT) from the southern island of Sriharikota, one of two sites used by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to launch satellites.Scientists hugged each other and cheered as the 640-tonne rocket lifted off. The GSLV - MKIII D1/GSAT-19 mission takes India closer to the next generation launch vehicle and satellite capability, Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on his Twitter account.The nation is proud! The rocket boasts a powerful engine that has been developed in India over many years. Programme managers hope to reduce reliance on European engines that have propelled some of Indias spacecraft in the past.The GSLV Mk III rocket carried a satellite weighing more than three tonnes into a high orbit above Earth, a landmark achievement as India had struggled to match the heavier payloads of other space giants.This is an important moment in Indias space technology, to launch an indigenous heavy rocket, Ajay Lele from the Delhi-based Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses told AFP. Communication satellites are quite heavy and we were (only) able to send up to two tonnes previously. This is a double quantum jump for India.