NEW DELHI: At the stroke of midnight on Monday, Elon Musk-led US space agency Space X launched India’s first privately built satellite ExseedSAT 1 along with 63 other satellites from 17 countries. After being repeatedly postponed for 10 days due to technical and weather reasons, Space X’s Falcon 9 rocket took off at 12.10 am on Tuesday from the Vandenberg air force base in California. Over 43 minutes after the launch, Falcon 9 placed ExceedSat-1 into the polar orbit.The mini communication satellite weighing just a kg with double the size of a Rubik’s cube (10 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm) is made up of aluminium alloy. The satellite, which is the brainchild of a Mumbai-based startup Exseed Space, looks to serve the amateur radio community. ExseedSAT 1 was built at a cost of Rs 2 crore. The satellite with a lifespan of five years will allow people to receive signals on 145.9 Mhz frequency with the help of a TV tuner. Built in just 18 months, ExseedSAT 1 has paved the way for private-funded space missions.Amid the hustle-bustle of Linking Road in Mumbai’s Santa Cruz, a shopping area, Exceed Sat-1 was planned in an office just off the main road. Exceed Space CEO Kris Nair told TOI that the satellite would provide a big boost to private radio operators and help in coordinating messages among them and help the country in time of disaster. Explaining the reason for not launching it from Indian soil, Nair said Exceed Space decided to fly the satellite from the US as Space X had a slot available. “The availability of a slot with Isro proved very difficult because the PSLV is a very popular rocket with lots of customers,’’ he said.Nair said there were between 200 and 300 companies supplying components to Isro. “These organisations played a major role in our space programme. We want to go a step further and set up a full-fledged space company dealing in satellites. The focus will be on offering space-based solutions in various sectors like agriculture,’’ he said.Wearing a T-shirt and jeans, the young CEO said the decision to make the satellite was taken last year just after the company was founded in May 2017. “It is backed by our own capital and years of experience. You can call it a joint venture of both Mumbai and Hyderabad,’’ Nair said.Though ExseedSAT 1 has broken Isro's monopoly in building satellites, the Indian space agency of late has been encouraging private players to form a small consortium to undertake satellite and rocket manufacturing work so that it can focus on R&D.Interestingly, Falcon 9 rocket also carried cremated remains of 100 people, mostly military veterans and aerospace enthusiasts, to space. However, it won’t be the first time someone’s earthly remains were sent to be among the stars. In 1998, a small vial of astronomer Eugene Shoemaker’s ashes crashed into the moon as part of Nasa’s lunar prospector mission and remains on the surface.With Monday’s Falcon 9 launch, SpaceX broke two records. This was the US private space agency’s 19th launch of the year topping its previous annual record of 18, which was set last year. Second, the Falcon 9 rocket managed to deliver 64 satellites into orbit breaking the US record (India holds the world record for launching 104 satellites in one go on February 15, 2017).