India launched a capsule into space today capable of carrying human passengers, the country’s space agency said.

The 3.7-tonne capsule took off on board a 630-tonne rocket from the southern island of Sriharikota, before detaching successfully at an altitude of 126 kilometres, and landing by parachute in the Bay of Bengal, the Indian Space Research Organisation said.

The capsule is designed to carry a crew of two or three.

The agency said it hoped to put people into space within the next seven to eight years, and has announced plans to put an unmanned rover on the moon in 2017.

“Successful launch of GSLV Mk-III is yet another triumph of brilliance & hardwork of our scientists,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted. “Congrats to them for the efforts.”

The GSLV rocket, or Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, is powered by liquified gas kept at very low temperatures, in a system developed in India and first tested in January.

The developing country has an ambitious space programme.

In September an Indian probe because the first from an Asian country to reach orbit around Mars, in a mission that reportedly cost less than US$80 million.

- dpa