India has successfully launched a communications satellite, the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) D5, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota off the Bay of Bengal. <br /><br />The GSLV-D5’s engine was designed and built in India, a triumph for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) which has been attempting such a feat since 2001.<br /><br />Following Sunday’s launch, ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan said: “Today is an important day for space technology in the country. The Indian cryogenic stage performed as expected and injected the satellite to the intended orbit.<br /><br />“Our toiling of 20 years and excruciating efforts in the last three-and-a-half years have borne fruit,” said Dr Radhakrishnan.<br /><br />ISRO has now became the sixth space agency in the world after the United States, Russia, Japan, China and France to have success with this type of engine.<br /><br />The launch comes after the successful launch of the country’s first Mars probe, Mangalyaan, in November last year.
