The space race heats up again - and this time it's India that's looking to zoom ahead.

India hopes to make history by launching a record 104 satellites from a single rocket on Wednesday.

Its famously frugal space agency is looking to gain power and prestige in the commercial space race.

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Last June, India set a national record after it successfully launched a rocket carrying 20 satellites (pictured). If this launch works, it will set a world record as the country to launch the most rockets in one go

INDIA'S SPACE SUCCESS The Indian space agency (ISRO) is well known for doing a lot on a minimal budget. While small, ISRO is among just three space agencies whose probes have successfully reached Mars - with its Mangalyaan orbiter mission in 2013. The latest spate of satellite launches are part of the country's drive to gain a larger slice of the lucrative commercial space launch industry. Advertisement

The rocket is set to blast off from the southern spaceport of Sriharikota, India's Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle would be carrying a 714 kilogram main satellite for earth observation and 103 smaller 'nano satellites'.

Together this would weigh a combined 664 kilograms.

Nearly all of the nano satellites are from other countries, including Israel, Kazakhstan, The Netherlands, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates and 96 from the US, said the state-run ISRO.

If successful, India will set a world record as the first country to launch the most satellites in one go, surpassing Russia which launched 39 satellites in a single mission in June 2014.

The business of putting commercial satellites into space for a fee is growing as phone, Internet and other companies, as well as countries, seek greater and more high-tech communications.

These images of earth (left) and Mars (right) are taken from India’s Mars Orbiter Spacecraft. The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle would be carrying a 714 kilogram main satellite for earth observation and 103 smaller 'nano satellites'

Dust storms on Mars, captured by the Mars Colour Camera onboard India’s Mars Orbiter Spacecraft

India is competing with other international players for a greater share of that launch market, and is known for its low-cost space programme.

Last June, India set a national record after it successfully launched a rocket carrying 20 satellites, including 13 from the US.

It sent an unmanned rocket to orbit Mars in 2013 at a cost of just £59 million ($73 million), compared with NASA's Maven Mars mission which had a £538 million ($671 million) price tag.

The rocket is set to blast off from the southern spaceport of Sriharikota. India is competing with other international players for a greater share of that launch market, and is known for its low-cost space programme

Phobos, one of the two natural satellites of Mars silhouetted against the Martian surface, captured by the Mars Colour Camera onboard India’s Mars Orbiter Spacecraft

To date, India has launched 79 satellites from 21 countries, including satellites from big companies like Google and Airbus.

This has earned India at least £125 million ($157 million), according to government figures.

ISRO is also mulling the idea of missions to Jupiter and Venus.

Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, has often hailed India's budget space technology, quipping in 2014 that a rocket that launched four foreign satellites into orbit had cost less to make than Hollywood film 'Gravity'.