PSLV
India's Workhorse Launch Vehicle
The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle is ISRO's most-flown launch vehicle and the platform for all major ISRO-CNES joint missions, making its configuration and capability a recurring prelims topic.
- A four-stage expendable launch vehicle using alternating solid and liquid propulsion stages, developed by ISRO.
- Configurations include PSLV-CA (core alone, no strap-on boosters), PSLV-G (standard, 6 boosters), PSLV-XL (6 extended strap-on boosters, ~1,800 kg to Sun-Synchronous Orbit), and PSLV-DL/QL (2 or 4 boosters) for lighter payloads.
- Historic missions include Chandrayaan-1 (2008) and the Mars Orbiter Mission/Mangalyaan (2013), both launched on PSLV variants.
- Launches operate from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
● Tracked since March 20, 2026 · last seen September 07, 2026 · updates as the daily brief publishes
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