India has successfully placed a new earth-imaging satellite and 30 smaller satellites belonging to eight different countries into orbit.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) rocket which carried the satellites was launched from the Sriharikota space port in southern India on Thursday.
The Hyperspectral Imaging Satellite HysIS, which weighs about 380 kilograms, aims to study the earth's surface in "visible, near infrared and shortwave infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum," ISRO said in a statement.
It will also allow the identification of distinct objects from space.
"On the journey ahead, the road is full of traffic for us," ISRO chairman K Sivan, who was congratulating scientists at the launch centre, said on state-run Doordarshan television.
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ISRO has a series of missions lined up including the launch of the 5854-kilogram GSAT-11 on Wednesday and a second moon mission in January.
India has an ambitious space program. The ISRO has sent probes to the Moon and Mars in recent years besides developing a reputation for low-cost satellite launches.
It has so far launched over 250 foreign satellites from 28 countries since 1999. Last February, the ISRO placed a record-breaking 104 satellites into orbit in a single mission.
