India Launches GSAT-19 From Its New, Heaviest Rocket

"The new rocket may be slightly short but has more punch power," said an ISRO official.

India presently has two rockets -- the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle and GSLV-Mk II -- with a lift-off mass of 415 tonnes and a carrying capacity of 2.5 tonnes.

India puts foreign satellites into orbit for a fee using its lighter rocket PSLV. However the weight of third party satellites is not much.

Revenue for launching satellites depends on the satellite's weight - higher the weight, higher the revenue.

The GSLV-Mk III, when its graduates from its development flight status to operational status, may look at flying heavier foreign satellites.

The Indian space agency officials said the new rocket would save the country foreign exchange as it can launch the country's communication satellites instead of going to a foreign space agency for launch services.

The GSAT-18 satellite launched in 2016 using Arianespace's rocket weighed 3,404 kg which is well within the GSLV-Mk III's capacity.

However, India may not become a serious player in the global communication satellite launch market.

Industry sources said globally the trend is the weight of communication satellites is going up while the weight of earth observation satellites has come down.

A major portion of communication satellites that are sent up now weigh around six tons and above.

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