India successfully launched a rocket carrying three satellites and deployed them Wednesday.
The rocket was fired from Sriharikota, India's main space station, which is located in Tamil Nadu.
Space scientists gathered at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre applauded every stage of the rocket's progress and - at exactly 18 minutes after lift-off - its placing of the satellites into orbit at an altitude of 822 kms .
Data from the satellites can be used for communication, television, urban and forest development, mineral prospecting, disaster management, ocean resource management, and in some cases, even intelligence.