India's space agency has successfully launched its heaviest rocket

The 640-tonne rocket blasted off from a launching site off the Bay of Bengal in Sriharikota. The rocket was compared with diferent things, Such comparisons highlight the importance of the launch for the country, which is aggressively competing to get a bigger share of the global commercial satellite launch market. The GSLV Mark III can carry put a payload weighing more than three tonnes into the high altitude orbit occupied by the spacecraft that relay TV, telephone calls and broadband connections. Isro hopes that the rocket, called the "monster" by one newspaper, will be able to carry an astronaut to space by 2024.

India wants to become the fourth country after the US, China and Russia to send a person into space. Experts say the successful launch will give impetus to India's indigenous space programme. launch follows Isro's other recent achievements, including a mission to Mars, and the launch of more than 100 satellites in a single mission earlier in the year.