The launch of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-FO4 (GSLV) rocket carrying communication satellite INSAT-4CR blasted off from Sriharikota, south India, at 6: 20 p.m. local time Sunday.

The launch of the GSLV carrying INSAT-4CR was scheduled to lift off at 4:21 p.m. local time. However, it had earlier been stopped several seconds before the blast off due to a "technical snag in parameters related to the launch," India media quoted sources in the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) as saying.

The rocket was on its designated path, and the performance was reported as normal, the ISRO said, adding that all parameters were functioning well.

The GSLV was to put into orbit INSAT-4CR, which carries 12 high-power Ku-band transponders for direct-to-home television services, video picture transmission and digital satellite newsgathering.

The ISRO scientists say they are extra careful this time to ensure that the vehicle does not meet the same fate of its predecessor, the GSLV-F02, in July 2006, when it had strayed away from its path, forcing them to destroy it, 56 seconds after takeoff.