DHAKA: India on Sunday successfully launched its first rocket using domestically made booster technology, taking another step forward in its ambitious space programme.

The Indian-made cryogenically-powered rocket blasted off from the southern spaceport of Sriharikota as scheduled, as Delhi tries to join an elite club of countries which have mastered the complex technology.

The 415-tonne rocket deployed a two-tonne advanced communications satellite 17 minutes after blast-off, said Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) chairman Dr K Radhakrishnan.

‘I am extremely proud and happy to say that team Isro has done it,’ Dr Radhakrishnan announced at mission control in Andhra Pradesh state, sparking a roar of applause from colleagues.

‘Team Isro and the project directors all have put their heart and soul in making this proud moment for the country,’ he said, reports The Straits Times.

BDST: 1908 HRS, JAN 05, 2014
Edited by Robab Rosan, Current Affairs Editor