India has successfully launched its first mini space shuttle on Monday as New Delhi's famously frugal space agency joined the global race to make rockets as reusable as airplanes.

The shuttle was reportedly developed on a budget of just INR1 billion, a fraction of the billions of dollars spent by other nations' space programmes.

The Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV-TD), which is around the size of a minibus, hurtled into a blue sky over southeast India after its 7am lift off.

A small town in the desert state of Rajasthan saw the mercury rise to a searing 123.8 degrees Fahrenheit (51 degrees Celsius), the hottest moment ever recorded in the South Asian nation.

The heat on Thursday in Phalodi – a town of about 45 000 people – bested the previous national record set way back in 1956 when it reached 123.1 degrees Fahrenheit in another Rajasthani town, Alwar.

India has successfully launched its first mini space shuttle on Monday as New Delhi's famously frugal space agency joined the global race to make rockets as reusable as airplanes.
The shuttle was reportedly developed on a budget of just INR1 billion, a fraction of the billions of dollars spent by other nations' space programmes.
The Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV-TD), which is around the size of a minibus, hurtled into a blue sky over southeast India after its 7am lift off.
A small town in the desert state of Rajasthan saw the mercury rise to a searing 123.8 degrees Fahrenheit (51 degrees Celsius), the hottest moment ever recorded in the South Asian nation.
The heat on Thursday in Phalodi &ndash; a town of about 45 000 people &ndash; bested the previous national record set way back in 1956 when it reached 123.1 degrees Fahrenheit in another Rajasthani town, Alwar.

Get all the news you need to know each day with Bongani Bingwa’s Breakfast Show. Stay updated on developing stories and hear from the newsmakers making headlines as well as ordinary listeners affected by the stories. 

Get all the news you need to know each day with Bongani Bingwa’s Breakfast Show. Stay updated on developing stories and hear from the newsmakers making headlines as well as ordinary listeners affected by the stories.

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