Bystanders look on as Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) navigation satellite IRNSS-1G, on board the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C33) is launched from Sriharikota in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh on April 28, 2016. PHOTO: AFP
NEW DELHI: India successfully launched Wednesday a rocket carrying a record 20 satellites as its famously frugal space agency looks to grab a larger slice of the lucrative commercial space market.
The rocket blasted off from the southern spaceport of Sriharikota carrying satellites from the US, Germany, Canada and Indonesia, the most in a single Indian mission.
India's mini space shuttle blasts off
Most of the satellites will enter orbit to observe and measure the Earth's atmosphere, while another aims to provide service for amateur radio operators.
"Each of these small objects that you are putting into space will carry out their own activity, which is independent of the other, and each of them will live a wonderful life for a finite period," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman A.S Kiran Kumar told the NDTV news network.
The business of putting commercial satellites into space for a fee is growing as phone, Internet and other companies as well as countries seek greater and more high-tech communications.
India is competing with other international players for a greater share of that launch market, and is known for its low-cost space programme.
Among the 20 satellites launched on Wednesday were 13 from the US including one from a Google-owned company and two from Indian universities.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the 20-satellite record as a "monumental accomplishment", although it trails Russia's 33 record launched in 2014 and NASA's haul of 29 the year before.
"Our space programme has time and again shown the transformative potential of science & technology in people's lives," Modi tweeted.
Our space programme has time and again shown the transformative potential of science & technology in people's lives.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 22, 2016
20 satellites in a go! @isro continues to break new barriers. Hearty congratulations to our scientists on the monumental accomplishment.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 22, 2016
Over the years we developed expertise & capability to help other nations in their space initiatives. This is the skill of our scientists.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 22, 2016
Saw with immense joy that students from institutions in Pune & Chennai played a role in the making of satellites. This touched me.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 22, 2016
Last month India successfully launched its first mini space shuttle as it joined the global race to make reusable rockets.
The shuttle was reportedly developed on a budget of just one billion rupees ($14 million), a fraction of the billions of dollars spent by other nations' space programmes.
India gets homegrown satellite navigation system
India in 2013 sent an unmanned rocket to orbit Mars at a cost of just $73 million, compared with NASA's Maven Mars mission which had a $671 million price tag.
The successful mission was a source of immense pride in India, which beat rival China in becoming the first Asian country to reach the Red Planet.
Modi has often hailed India's budget space technology, quipping in 2014 that a local rocket that launched four foreign satellites into orbit had cost less to make than Hollywood film "Gravity".
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