India shows off space prowess with launch of mega-rocket

India Monday successfully launched its most powerful home-produced rocket, another milestone for its indigenous space programme which one day hopes to put a human into orbit.The 43-metre (140-foot) rocket hurtled into a clear sky at 5:28 pm (1158 GMT) from the southern island of Sriharikota, one of two sites used by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to launch satellites."The GSLV – MKIII D1/GSAT-19 mission takes India closer to the next generation launch vehicle and satellite c