Daily Times

NEW DELHI: India on Wednesday successfully launched 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.

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.

The highest number of satellites launched in a single mission is 37, a record that Russia set in 2014. The US space agency Nasa launched 29. Indian government officials and scientists were present at the launch facility in the Andhra Pradesh state as the rocket carrying the 20 satellites took off, reported the BBC.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the 20-satellite record as a “monumental accomplishment.” “Our space programme has time and again shown the transformative potential of science & technology in people’s lives,” Modi tweeted. 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 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.