Indian Launch Vehicle Programme
by
D Narayana Moorthi
Director, Launch Vehicle Prgramme Office
ISRO Headquarters

ABSTRACT
The India Launch Vehicle Programme has made steady progress in the last three decades during which four generations of Satellite Launch Vehicles have been designed, developed and launched. Polar Satellite Launch vehicle (PSLV) has been made operational and is available for launch services for the national and commercial satellites. Geo-Synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), the fourth generation launch vehicle developed by ISRO had its successful maiden developmental flight on April 18, 2001. This is a historic milestone for the Indian Space programme. This is the culmination of developmental efforts for this vehicle in the past one decade. Further plans of the Indian Launch Vehicle Programme envisages development of advanced versions of the GSLV and R&D efforts for performance enhancement and low cost of access to space. While the achievements of the programme are modest from world standards, they are yet significant considering that the development effort had to start from scratch in the most high technology areas and the training of the specialists and the creation of in-house and industrial infrastructure had to be done simultaneously with development through time bound projects.