Click to play videoSriharikota: India on Monday joined an elite club of the ranks of the US, Russia, China and France with the country’s first fully commercial launch.
It's the first time ISRO made money from a launch as it puts an Italian satellite in orbit.
The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle C8 carried a 352 kg Italian satellite, Agile and put it into orbit in 23 minutes.
The Italians paid ISRO $29,000 per kg, which makes it around Rs 46 crore.
ISRO hopes this would usher in an era of more commercial launches.
"We hope to capture at least 2 per cent of the international satellite launch market and it takes us into a new ear of space opportunities," said ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair.
While international charges are about $10,000 per kg, ISRO charged a premium from the Italians, as the satellite was to be launched in a unique low earth equatorial orbit.
"This is not the end of a cooperation but the beginning," said Italian Space Agency President Giovani Bignami.
While Monday's launch vehicle cost ISRO Rs 65 crore compared to the Rs 46 crore it got from the Italians, ISRO says it's still a big step forward and has put India firmly on the international commercial launch map.
It's perhaps the start of a new era for ISRO – an era where a successful launch is not just a matter of pride but a matter of money as well.
But India's space agency still has a long way to go before competing with giants like Russia and the United States.
(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter and Google+)
displayed with permission. Use of the CNN name and/or logo on or as part of CNN-IBN does not derogate from the intellectual property rights of Cable News Network in respect of them.