A lusty round of praise appear to be in order as on the forenoon of Thursday 18 December , India ’s space agencysuccessfully conducted the first experimental flight of its next genesis launch fomite . The 630 - tonne Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk - III ( GSLV Mk - III ) is the agency ’s orotund rocket , significantly boosting the payload that India can deliver to space . Hopefully , this will permit the nation to tap further into the $ 300 billion ball-shaped place industry .

GSLV Mk - III boom off at 9:30 am IST from Satish Dhawan Space Center on Sriharikota Island , Andhra Pradesh , in a mental testing mission that number with a$25 millionprice tag . The rocket engine was carrying an remote-controlled ejector seat , CARE , which the Indian Space and Research Organization ( ISRO ) hop could one day send two to three astronauts to quad .

This 3,775 kg mental faculty was carry to the mean height of 129 kilometers ( 80 miles ) before separating from the roquette ’s upper level . The condensation then re - inscribe the atmosphere and safely plopped into the Bay of Bengal just 20 minutes later with the help of parachutes . ISRO will now get CARE from the ocean and return it to Sriharikota for further experiments . According to the federal agency , it will likely be anotherseven   yearsbefore the capsule will be ready to take humans into place .

Alongside testing out the rocket ’s carrying capabilities , the launching admit the agency to scrutinise GSLV MK - III’satmospheric stableness and pattern . At the here and now , it only has two locomotive , but a third is currently being develop .

“ We still need to put a heavy third engine to ensure this vehicle can be used successfully for manned missions and gravid artificial satellite launches,”saidMayank Vahia , a scientist working at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research .

While ISRO has successfully set in motion light satellites in the past tense , it has struggled to broadcast up heavier payloads that other country have want to launch , meaning it hasfailed to accomplisha large chunk of its planned missionary post in late years . However , GSLV Mk - III will be able-bodied to carry planet weighing4,000 kilogramsinto outer space , which is around double as much as the agency ’s current potentiality .

This tardy trial mission is the 2d time this year that ISRO has demonstrated it no longer intends to be nipping at the bounder of the big boys of space inquiry . Back in September , the agency successfully mistake a orbiter , Mangalyaan , into orbit around Mars . Not only was this a maiden voyage , which is a remarkable accomplishment considering the bit of failed attempts to reach the Red Planet , but it was achieved on a shoestring . NASA ’s MAVEN mission , which arrived just two Clarence Day before Mangalyaan , be $ 671 million ; ISRO ’s mission cost just $ 74 million .

[ ViaISRO , AFP , BBC NewsandReuters ]