NEW DELHI, December 18. /TASS/. India has made Thursday a successful maiden launch of a new GSLV Mark-III carrier rocket which capable of orbiting heavy satellites weighing up to four tons. The rocket is equipped with an Indian cryogenic engine.

The lift-off was made from Indian space center on Sriharikota Island. GSLV Mark-III carries the prototype of a descent vehicle of a piloted spaceship as payload.

India has earlier made six successful launches of similar GSLV rockets with Russian-made cryogenic engines.