Space powers

United States Russia European Union China

"It was the longest 17 minutes in our life. It was also the most exciting and wonderful 17 minutes in our life," India's space agency chief, Dr K Kasturirangan, said after the launch.

Millions of television viewers saw a first attempt last month fail as flames licked one side of the rocket because of a faulty booster engine.

Soon after Wednesday's success, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee appeared on national television to congratulate the scientists.

"Today is a proud day for India. The entire nation is thrilled by the successful launch.

"As the GSLV blazes its way into the sky, it writes a shining new chapter in the history of India's space endeavours," Mr Vajpayee said.

Big league

The success of the launch is an important step towards India joining the big league of space powers.

If the rest of the operation proves successful, India could start making a considerable income from commercial satellite launches.

The first attempt last month failed

This market is currently shared by the US, Russia, China and the EU with its European Space Agency.

India's GSLV is aiming to put a 1.5 tonne experimental satellite into geosynchronous orbit, which means it should go round the Earth at the same rate as the planet turns, so the satellite is always over the same point on the Earth's surface.

To do so, the satellite needs to reach a very high orbit of 36,000 km from the Earth.

The GSLV project, the most technologically demanding undertaken by India's space agency, has cost more than $300m so far and taken 10 years to develop.

But the BBC's correspondent in Delhi, Mike Wooldridge, says the potential benefits are considerable, both from not having to depend on the European Space Agency and the income from potential clients.