An Indian-made rocket lifted off from a site north of Chennai carrying two satellites that will test docking in space.
Docking is critical for manned trips to the moon or maintaining a space station.
Declaring the launch a “successful execution”, Indian Space Research Organization chief Sridhara Somanath said the rocket had “placed the satellites in the correct orbit”.
The two spacecraft began test processes on Tuesday and the final docking will take place around January 7.
India hopes to become only the fourth country with such technology after Russia, the US and China.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier announced plans to send a man to the moon by 2040.