India has successfully launched its largest and heaviest rocket and an unmanned capsule which could send astronauts into space.
On Thursday, December 17, a 630-ton Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (MK III) blasted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota off the coast of Andhra Pradesh. The rocket’s main payload was a 3.65 ton Indian-made unmanned capsule capable of carrying two to three astronauts into space. 730 seconds later, ISRO, the Indian Space and Research Organization, reported that the capsule “safely splashed down into Bay of Bengal off Andaman and Nicobar Islands“, completing the experiment as planned.
“This was a very significant day in the history of Indian space program,” ISRO chairman K S Radhakrishnan said from mission control, as fellow scientists clapped and broke into a round of cheers.
Pallava Bagla, an expert in space, opined that the newly-developed rocket would be able to double cargo capacity to 4 tons. India is emerging as a major player in the multi-billion dollar space market and has undertaken several missions.
