The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, on India's southeast coast, at 11:27 p.m. EST (0427 GMT and 0957 local Indian time on Nov. 29). 

The PSLV's primary payload was the 840-lb. (380 kilograms) HySIS satellite, whose main goal "is to study the Earth's surface in the visible, near-infrared and shortwave-infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum," officials with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) wrote in a statement after the successful launch. [See amazing launch photos for India's HySIS mission]

Also aboard the PSLV were 29 nanosatellites and one microsatellite, which were provided by eight different countries. All of these little spacecraft reached their intended orbits, ISRO officials said.