The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) is located at Thumba near Trivandrum, a city of the Kerala state in India. It is a major space research centre of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO),where space vehicles are developed for the Indian satellite programme. Thumba is a small fishing village near Thiruvananthapuram, capital of Kerala, India. ... Indian Coffee House Thiruvananthapuram or Thiruvanathapuram (formerly known as Trivandrum) is the capital (population - 889,191 (2001)) of the state of Kerala, India. ... Kerala (IPA: ; Malayalam: കേരളം — ) is a state on the tropical Malabar Coast of southwestern India. ... The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is Indias national space agency. ...

The Vikram Sarabhai Space Center is ISRO's one of the main Research & Development establishment. Its facilities were built near the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS), on the west coast of India, about 10 miles (16km) north of Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala State. Named after the late Professor Vikram Sarabhai (1919-1971), founder of the Indian Space Program. VSSC is an entirely national facility working on the development of sounding rockets; Rohini and Menaka, launchers; ASLV, PSLV and GSLV, along with the solid motor program. Thiruvananthapuram (Malayalam: തിരുവനന്തപുരം []), formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala and the headquarter of Thiruvananthapuram District. ... Kerala (IPA: ; Malayalam: കേരളം — ) is a state on the tropical Malabar Coast of southwestern India. ... Dr. Vikram Sarabhai (from NASA archive) Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai (August 12, 1919 – December 31, 1971) was a great Indian physicist. ... Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV), was a 5-stage solid propellant rocket with the capability of placing a 150 kg satellite into LEO. This project was started by the Indian space research organisation(ISRO) during the early 1980s to develop technologies needed for a payload to be placed into a... PSLV or Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle is an expendable launch system operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). ... The GSLV or Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle was developed by India (Indian Space Research Organization) to launch satellites into geostationary orbit. ...

"There are some who question the relevance of space activities in a developing nation. To us, there is no ambiguity of purpose. We do not have the fantasy of competing with the economically advanced nations in the exploration of the moon or the planets or manned space-flight. But we are convinced that if we are to play a meaningful role nationally, and in the community of nations, we must be second to none in the application of advanced technologies to the real problems of man and society. " ISRO's Launch Vehicle programme started with development of SLV-3, first successfully launched on July 18, 1980 followed by two more flights. The second launch vehicle was Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle which had two successful flights. The development of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle has been completed with two successful flights and is now available for operational use. Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) is under development.

ISRO Launch Vehicles

 * SLV - 3 * ASLV * PSLV * GSLV 

SLV - 3

 * Weight (t) : 17 * Payload (kg) : 40 * Height(m) : 22 * Orbit : Low - earth orbit 

ASLV is a five-stage vehicle employing solid propellant capable of placing 150 Kg class satellites in near-circular orbit. Successfully launched in May 1992 and May 1994, placing SROSS Scientific Satellites in orbit.

 * Weight (t): 39 * Payload (kg): 150 * Height(m): 23.5 * Orbit :Low - earth orbit 

 Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle 

 * Developmental flights completed with successful third developmental launch in March 1996. * IRS-1D launched by PSLV-C1 on September 29, 1997. * Now available for launching 1,000-1,200 kg class of remote sensing satellites into polar sun-synchronous orbit. * IRS-P4 (OCEANSAT) and two piggy back small satellites - Korean KITSAT and German TUBSAT launched by PSLV-C2 on May 26,1999. * Technology Experiment Satellite (TES) of ISRO, BIRD of Germany and PROBA of Belgium - into their intended orbits launched by PSLV-C3 on October 22, 2001. * The 1060 kg KALPANA-1 satellite - into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) launched by PSLV-C4 on September 12, 2002. * RESOURCESAT-1 (IRS-P6) satellite launched by PSLV-C5 on October 17, 2003. * CARTOSAT-1 and HAMSAT satellites launched by PSLV-C6 on May 5, 2005. 

Weight (t) : 294 Payload (kg) : 1000-1200 Height(m) : 44.43 Orbit : Polar orbit

 Stage-1 Stage-2 Stage-3 Stage-4 

Nomenclature Core PSI + Strap-on PSOM 6Nos. PS2 PS3 PS4 Propellant Solid HTPB Based Liquid UDMH+ N2O4 Solid HTPB Based Bi-Prop MMH + N2O4 Propellant Mass (tonnes) 138.0 + 6X9.0 40.6 7.2 2.0 Stage Mass (tonnes) 229 46 8.4 2.89 Max Thrust (kN) 4628 + 662 x 6 725 340 7.4 x 2 Burn time (sec) 107.4 45 163 76 415 Stage Dia(m) 2.8 1.0 2.8 2.0 1.3 Stage Length(m) 20 10 12.5 3.6 2.1 Control SITVC for Pitch & Yaw, Reaction control Thrusters for roll. SITVC in 2 PSOMs for roll control augmentation Engine Gimbal for Pitch & Yaw, Hot Gas Reaction Control Motor for roll control Flex Nozzle for Pitch & Yaw, PS4 RCS for roll control Engine Gimbal for Pitch, Yaw and roll On -off RCS for coast phase control

 Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) GSLV is under development for launching 2500 kg INSAT class of satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit. While the initial flights will have cryogenic upper stage supplied by Russia, ISRO is developing indigeneous cryogenic stage for use in subseqent flights. 

Lift-off mass (t) : 401t Height (m) : 49m Heatshield : Diameter : 3.40m, Length : 7.8m, Dynamic envelope : 3.05m

 First Stage (GS-1) S125 booster L40 strapon Second Stage (GS-2) Third Stage (GS-3) 

Propulsion Solid Liquid Liquid Cryogenic Lenght(m) 20 19.7 11.6 8.7 Diameter(m) 2.8 2.1 2.8 2.8 Total Mass (tonnes) 157.3 45.6 43.0 15.0 Propellent Mass (Tonnes) 129 40 37.5 12.5 Case/Tank Material M250 Steel 45 Aluminium Aluminium Aluminium Propellent HTPB 1.0 UDMH & N204 UDMH & N204 LH2 & LOX Stage Length(m) 20 10 12.5 3.6 2.1 Control SITVC for Pitch & Yaw, Reaction control Thrusters for roll. SITVC in 2 PSOMs for roll control augmentation Engine Gimbal for Pitch & Yaw, Hot Gas Reaction Control Motor for roll control Flex Nozzle for Pitch & Yaw, PS4 RCS for roll control Engine Gimbal for Pitch, Yaw and roll On -off RCS for coast phase controll

 * Government of India set up Space Commission and Department of Space (DOS) in June 1972. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) under DOS executes Space programme through its establishments located in different places in India. * Main objective of space programme includes development of satellites, launch vehicles, Sounding Rockets and associated ground systems. * Crossed several major milestones. * Experimental phase included Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE), Satellite Telcommunication Experiment (STEP), remote sensing application projects, satellites like Aryabhata, Bhaskara, Rohini and APPLE and launch vehicles, SLV-3 and ASLV. * Present operational space systems include Indian National Satellite (INSAT) for tele-communication, television broadcasting, meteorology and disaster warning and Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS) for resources monitoring and management. * Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) used for launching IRS Satellites and Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), intended for launching INSAT class of satellites. * Space Science activities include SROSS and IRS-P3 satellites, participation in international science campaigns and ground systems like MST Radar. * ISRO's co-operative arrangements cover several countries and space agencies. * ISRO provides training in space field to personnel from other countries. * ISRO's hardware and services available commercially through Antrix Corporation. 

 * For details contact us at: info@isro.org 

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