India's space agency launches its heaviest satellite yet

The Indian space agency on Wednesday launched a LVM-3 rocket carrying its heaviest-ever satellite — BlueBird Block-2 — from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in southern India.

BlueBird Block-2 weighs 6,100 kilograms (over 6 tons), making the largest-ever commercial communications satellite to be deployed in low Earth orbit (LEO) and "the heaviest payload to be launched from Indian soil," according to the space agency.

The LVM3-M6 rocket, built by the US-based company AST SpaceMobile, was launched at 8.55 a.m. local time (0330 GMT). The satellite was successfully injected into the intended orbit, ISRO said.

ISRO plans to use a modified version of the LVM-3 rocket for its future space missions, including the human spaceflight program, Gaganyaan mission.

The milestone launch was lauded by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as "a significant stride" for the space sector.

"It strengthens India's heavy-lift launch capability and reinforces our growing role in the global commercial launch market," he said in a statement.