This handout photograph released by the ISRO on Thursday shows the GSLV MK-III rocket as it is transported to a second launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Center late Wednesday. Although India has successfully launched lighter satellites in recent years, it has struggled to match the heavier loads that other countries increasingly want sent up. The new rocket, weighing 630 tons and capable of carrying a payload of 4 tons, is a boost for India's attempts to grab a greater slice of the $300-billion global space market.

The Geostationary Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mk-III rocket lifts off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center on Sriharikota Island, some 80 kilometers north of Chennai, on Thursday, in a test mission costing nearly $25 million. India successfully launched its heaviest ever rocket on Thursday carrying an unmanned capsule which could one day send astronauts into space, as the country ramps up its ambitious space program. "This was a very significant day in the history of [the] Indian space program," Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Chairman K.S Radhakrishnan said from mission control as fellow scientists clapped and cheered.

The GSLV Mark-III rocket shoots skyward carrying CARE (Crew Module Atmospheric Re-entry Experiment), past a flock of geese, from the east coast island of Sriharikota, India, Thursday. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the test mission as "yet another triumph of [the] brilliance and hard work of our scientists" in a post on Twitter. Photos: AFP - IC