India successfully conducted the flight test of a new rocket that will drastically reduce the cost of its launch vehicles by using oxygen in the atmosphere to propel the spacecraft, a senior space official said Thursday.

“The flight test of the advanced sounding rocket Wednesday demonstrated our capability to reduce the cost of launch vehicles by using oxygen to propel a spacecraft at high speed into space,” Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) director S. Satish told IANS here.

The new propulsion technology will put India into the elite club of a few space-faring countries that are conducting similar tests and experiments.

“Currently, only US has the technology, while India is at par with other European and Asian countries, which are striving to achieve the capability,” the director pointed out.

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