This is how Donald Trump's intel nominee reacted when India launched 104 satellites

National Intelligence Director-designate and former Senator Dan Coats said that the US cannot afford to be seen lagging behind.

Washington: Days after India successfully launched over 100 satellites in one go, US' National Intelligence Director-designate and former Senator Dan Coats on Tuesday said he was "shocked" to read the news.

Appearing before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, US President Donald Trump's top spymaster nominee said: “I was shocked the other day to read that India, on one rocket launch, deposited more than 100 satellites in space.”

Coats further said that the US cannot afford to be seen lagging behind.

"They may be small in size with different functions and so forth but one rocket can send up, I think it was 104 platforms," said Coats, who if confirmed would be in-charge of all major American intelligence agencies including the CIA.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and its team made the country proud when the Indian rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) lifted off successfully with 104 satellites, including the country's earth observation satellite Cartosat-2 series, from the Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh on February 15.

The co-passenger satellites comprised 101 nano satellites, one each from Israel, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the UAE and 96 from the US, as well as two nano satellites from India.

(With Agency inputs)