An Indian rocket carrying seven satellites — the Indo-French satellite SARAL, world’s first smart phone-operated nano satellite, a space telescope satellite and four other foreign satellites — on Monday blasted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre here, around 80 km north of Chennai.

A little after 6 p.m., the rocket — Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle—C20 (PSLV-C20) — standing 44.4 metres tall and weighing around 230 tonnes hurtled towards the skies ferrying seven satellites to sling into orbit.