India is working toward building an SCE-200 semi-cryogenic liquid oxygen/kerosene engine to power advanced mega space launchers aimed at significantly lowering the cost of its space missions.

India has successfully launched eight satellites into two different orbits using one rocket, marking one of the most complex launches in the history of the country’s space missions.

The contract between France and India is welcomed by French officials as a diplomatic coup, but it also looms large as part of the arms race between India and some of its neighbors—namely Pakistan and China.