India launches its heaviest rocket into space

NEW DELHI — India on Monday launched its heaviest rocket that scientists say could be used in the future to carry an astronaut into space.

The homegrown Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk III lifted off from the southern spaceport of Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh state at 5:28 pm local time.

The 13-story high rocket carried a communications satellite weighing more than 3 metric tons, state-owned Indian Space Research Organization said.

“Today is a historic day. The rocket has successfully put the satellite into orbit,” ISRO chief A.S Kiran Kumar said.

The countdown for the launch of the 640-ton rocket began on Sunday.

India is vying for a larger slice of the booming commercial satellite business as phone, internet and other companies seek greater and more high-end communications.

In February, India put a record 104 satellites in orbit from a single rocket, surpassing Russia which launched 39 satellites in one mission in 2014.

The rocket’s main cargo was a 714-kilogram satellite for Earth observation but it was also loaded with 103 smaller “nano satellites”, nearly all from other countries.

Although India has successfully launched lighter satellites in recent years, this latest rocket is capable of carrying a massive 4-ton payload into high orbit — twice the capacity of its predecessor, ISRO said.

The space agency tested a less-developed version of the rocket in 2014 while the cryogenic engine was still in the testing phase.

It carried an unmanned crew capsule which separated from the rocket and splashed down in the Bay of Bengal off India’s east coast 20 minutes after liftoff.

The Indian-made capsule was designed to carry up to three astronauts but ISRO said the project would take at least another seven years to reach the point where a crew could be put into space.

India wants to become the fourth nation — after Russia, the United States and China — to put astronauts into orbit.