India launched a communication satellite using its most powerful rocket on Monday, improving its prospects of winning a bigger share of the more than $300 billion global space industry and its hopes of a manned mission.
The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mk III, or "Fat Boy," lifted off from the Sriharikota space center in southern India at 5.28 p.m. (1158 GMT) in clear blue skies.
At 3,136 kg (6,914 lb), or more than three tons and the height of a 13-story building, the GSAT-19 satellite is the heaviest India has tried to put in orbit, the space agency said.