India’s Unsung Space Journey: From Ox Carts to Mars

For a long time, it seemed like space exploration was a game dominated by just two superpowers: the United States and the Soviet Union. They were, you know, locked in this intense race for supremacy beyond Earth’s atmosphere. But things, they’ve really changed. A new wave of players has quietly emerged, building up incredible momentum and, well, challenging those old giants. And perhaps one of the most unexpected, and frankly, least talked about, is India’s space program. It’s quite a story, really, of ingenuity and perseverance that often goes unnoticed.

The Humble Beginnings: A Church, Bicycles, and Oxen

Imagine this: while NASA was busy constructing massive, sprawling infrastructure to reach the moon, India’s space agency, ISRO, was, in a way, just quietly putting together rockets. And they were doing it with components sourced from, like, nations all over the world. It’s a bit astonishing, isn’t it? The initial launch site, located in Kerala, sitting just below the magnetic equator, was, geographically speaking, pretty perfect. But there was a rather significant hurdle: this was India in the 1960s. Infrastructure was, let’s just say, severely lacking. The only building that was even remotely suitable for a launch base happened to be a church. So, the scientists, they just, you know, spoke to the local pastor and, remarkably, got his permission to use it. Soon after, shipments of components started arriving for their very first experiment.

This early period was marked by an almost unbelievable level of resourcefulness. A sounding rocket came from NASA, a sodium payload designed to create a glowing orange cloud in the upper atmosphere arrived from France, and a Soviet computer was brought in to measure and track the rocket’s altitude. But here’s where it gets a little complicated: the French were using metric measurements, and the Americans, well, they were using imperial. The payload, predictably, just didn’t fit into the rocket. So, there they were, inside a church, with an explosive sodium payload right in front of them, and Indian scientists had to, quite literally, machine the parts to fit. It’s the kind of scene you might expect in some sort of, I don’t know, a quirky documentary. The site was also incredibly rural, and the only available vehicle was often busy. This meant that sometimes, they would transport rocket parts from the train station to the church by bicycle or, get this, in carts pulled by oxen. It really makes you pause and think about the dedication involved.

Then, on November 21st, 1963, India launched its first sounding rocket. Across multiple points of the peninsula, scientists eagerly tracked the mission, snapping photos and recording how the orange cloud shifted in the sky. Meanwhile, in the nearby villages, people just, well, they simply enjoyed what must have seemed like a strange, beautiful sunset streaked with an unfamiliar glow. This moment, it truly marked the beginning of what would eventually become the Indian Space Research Organization. The origin story of ISRO, it feels almost mythical, a tale of makeshift solutions, international cooperation, and just sheer, unyielding determination. And in many ways, not much has really changed. ISRO has spent decades weaving together technologies from the Soviets, the French, and the Americans, building space systems that are, you know, greater than the sum of their individual parts. They’ve landed on the moon, discovered water at the lunar south pole, and even reached Mars. Yet, their achievements, they often go unnoticed in Western circles, tucked away in the news with very little fanfare. As they ramp up their human spaceflight program and start launching more missions, it seems like a good time to really look into some of the technical achievements and, yes, even the failures, of the Indian Space Program.

• Early operations were conducted in a church due to lack of infrastructure.
• Components were sourced globally, leading to compatibility challenges (metric vs. imperial).
• Rocket parts were transported by bicycle and ox carts.
• First sounding rocket launched on November 21, 1963.
• ISRO’s early days were characterized by resourcefulness and international collaboration.

Building Indigenous Capability: The Rohini Series and SITVC

From the very beginning, the Indian Space Program had a clear, overarching goal: to build the capability to launch satellites from Indian soil using homegrown expertise. But, and this is a big “but,” they had to do it without the massive budgets that the Cold War superpowers possessed. So, they had to get incredibly creative, and they chose to collaborate with both sides of that global divide. NASA, for instance, pitched in with 13 sounding rockets and provided hands-on training for Indian engineers. They were quite eager to study the magnetic equator, which, conveniently, runs right through southern India. Meanwhile, the French licensed their Centaure rocket design. At first, India imported these, but within just a few years, ISRO was building them right there at home. And from the other side of the Iron Curtain, the Soviet Union provided hundreds of M100 sounding rockets that, for decades, would be launched every Wednesday. By 1975, the program had expanded its operations, and that small church, well, it had expanded too, with offices, hangers, and more people.

These rockets were instrumental in helping India build better weather models for their subcontinent, significantly increasing their understanding of the monsoon cycle at these latitudes. And with each successive launch, the Indian Space Organization gained invaluable experience. ISRO systematically built systems and infrastructure to handle more and more launches. They were, slowly but surely, gaining the knowledge and the confidence needed to build and launch rockets of their very own design. And so came the Rohini 75. It weighed a mere 32 kg and stood 1.5 meters in height, something, you might think, a hobbyist could easily build today. For its body, it used off-the-shelf cylindrical aluminum extrusions. For fuel, they used cordite blocks, a type of smokeless propellant originally developed to replace gunpowder, which made it relatively easy to source. The original Rohini rocket could only carry a 1 kg payload to an altitude of 10 km, but with gradual improvements in design and propulsion, the Rohini 560 was eventually capable of lifting 90 kg to an altitude of 390 km. These gradual improvements, they led to a pivotal 1977 launch that would, in many ways, shape the program for the next decade.

A modified Rohini 560 had its meteorological payload replaced with three types of control systems. Sounding rockets, you see, typically have very primitive controls: fins to remain stable, some staging controls, and a way to release the payload. This particular test was going to lay down the groundwork for future, larger rockets with active control in the first stage. They tested two separate ways of orienting the rocket: controlling the fins by adjusting their angle hydraulically, and a rather surprising control system that could direct thrust at a fraction of the weight of NASA’s go-to method. It was a solid propellant rocket. NASA, famously, used solid rocket motors for the Space Shuttle, and it achieved thrust vectoring by moving the entire rocket nozzle with hydraulic motors. This is an extremely difficult mechanism to perfect. The hydraulic motors need to move quickly and accurately, and the mechanism connecting the booster itself to the moving engine needs to resist intense vibrations and temperatures. Plus, the motors, hydraulic fluid, and everything else needed to make it work, well, they weigh a lot, reducing what little payload these small rockets could carry to the upper atmosphere.

So, ISRO, being ISRO, adapted a method used for nuclear missiles instead—something simpler and, crucially, cheaper. They used a method called Secondary Injection Thrust Vector Control, or SITVC, which directs thrust by injecting gases into the nozzle. This system was originally developed by NASA in the 1950s and 60s and was used in the Minute Man and Polaris A3 nuclear missiles. The SITVC system stores a small volume of a secondary fuel, in the form of strontium perchlorate. When injected, it could alter the flow of the escaping gas by creating a shock wave that pushes the outgoing gas towards one side. This creates complex shock waves inside the cone, but it provides a much cheaper way of controlling a rocket. A gimballing system needs to accelerate and move the nozzles, which takes time. The SITVC system, however, only needs to open a pressure-fed valve. This 1977 test ended up being a success, and it gave ISRO enough data to move onto a larger rocket, one capable of much more than just delivering sounding probes into the upper atmosphere.

• ISRO’s early goal was self-reliance in satellite launches.
• Collaborated with NASA (sounding rockets, training) and France (Centaure rocket design).
• Soviet Union provided M100 sounding rockets for regular launches.
• Rohini series rockets were developed, increasing payload capacity and altitude.
• Pioneered Secondary Injection Thrust Vector Control (SITVC) for cheaper, more responsive rocket control.

The Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV) and Augmented SLV (ASLV) Eras

This is when ISRO really started to test and develop the Satellite Launch Vehicle, or SLV. The SLV was a four-stage solid-fueled rocket designed to place small satellites into low Earth orbit. ISRO had plenty of experience using solid propellants by this point, so it was only natural that the SLV was designed with solid fuel. Unlike liquid-fueled rockets, solid-fueled boosters require minimal pre-launch preparation and can be stored for long periods, making them, you know, quite ideal for India’s emerging space program. The first SLV launch attempt took place on August 10th, 1979. However, the mission, unfortunately, failed due to a control system failure caused by a defective valve in the second stage, leading to vehicle instability and a loss of control. It was a setback, to be sure, but setbacks are, I suppose, part of the journey.

Despite this initial hurdle, ISRO, with its characteristic determination, conducted a second attempt on July 18th, 1980. And this time, it was a success! The launch successfully placed the Rohini 1 satellite into orbit, making India the sixth nation in history with independent launch capabilities. That’s a pretty big deal, isn’t it? Joining that exclusive club. But the success, it wasn’t exactly long-lived. The SLV only had four launches in total, and only two of them were successful. So, they moved on, as you do, to the Augmented SLV, or ASLV. This was an upgraded version of the SLV, introduced in the mid-80s, with the addition of two strap-on boosters to improve payload capacity and stability. It was designed to launch heavier satellites into low Earth orbit. However, early flights encountered some major setbacks. The first ASLV, launched on March 24th, 1987, failed due to asymmetric thrust from the strap-on boosters. A year later, the second launch also failed after the rocket lost control during booster separation. With two more launches—one a partial failure and the last a success—ISRO decided that it really needed a course correction. This was especially true as ISRO had also invested considerable time and effort throughout the 70s and 80s to build satellites and the necessary ground infrastructure for them.

• SLV was a four-stage solid-fueled rocket for Low Earth Orbit.
• First SLV launch (1979) failed due to control system issues.
• Second SLV launch (1980) successfully orbited Rohini 1, making India the sixth nation with independent launch capabilities.
• ASLV was an upgraded version with strap-on boosters for heavier payloads.
• Early ASLV flights faced significant failures (asymmetric thrust, loss of control).

Nation Building Through Space: The SITE Program

One of their most ambitious uses of satellite technology during this period was the Satellite Instructional Television Experiment, or SITE. This was a truly bold attempt to beam educational programming directly into rural villages, with the grand aim of helping to educate the entire nation. Partnering with NASA and utilizing their ATS-6 satellite, ISRO broadcasted content on agriculture, health, and literacy to over 2,400 villages across six Indian states. But to make that happen, India had to learn satellite communication from scratch. Engineers built a 10-meter parabolic antenna in Ahmedabad to uplink the programs to the ATS-6 satellite, which could then beam down that programming to low-cost TV sets through solar-powered receiving stations in villages that, quite frankly, had no electricity. We aren’t talking about beaming, you know, “Sesame Street” into villages here.

They provided critical information on the best agricultural methods, disease prevention, nutrition, and even helped schools. And the system, it saw drastic increases in attendance. This all happened in 1969. Arthur C. Clarke, the renowned science fiction writer, even called it “the greatest communications experiment in history.” And it really did galvanize rural communities in favor of India’s space program. This was, in essence, nation-building through space technology. It showed how space, for India, wasn’t just about rockets and satellites for their own sake, but about directly improving the lives of its citizens. It was a clear demonstration of how space technology could be a tool for societal upliftment, a pragmatic approach that set ISRO apart.

• Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) aimed to educate rural villages.
• Partnered with NASA using the ATS-6 satellite.
• Broadcasted content on agriculture, health, and literacy to over 2,400 villages.
• Engineers built a 10-meter parabolic antenna for uplinking programs.
• Utilized low-cost, solar-powered TV sets in villages without electricity.
• Led to significant increases in school attendance and galvanized public support for the space program.

The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV): A Workhorse is Born

With India’s confidence growing, they knew that the SLV and ASLV programs, while foundational, simply weren’t enough to reach their more ambitious goals. India wanted a rocket that would not only place satellites into low Earth orbit but also into polar orbit. More specifically, a sun-synchronous orbit. Now, a sun-synchronous orbit, it allows a satellite to pass over the same region of Earth at the same time on each pass. This means the shadows and lighting in images remain consistent from one image to the next, which is, you know, absolutely crucial for detecting changes over time. And this was just what India needed to monitor its crops, forests, and urban sprawl. But placing a satellite in polar orbit means launching south, not east, which means losing the extra push of Earth’s rotation. Polar orbits are also at a higher altitude, typically around 600 to 800 km, where the ISS, for comparison, orbits at around 400 km. This, of course, meant they needed a heavier and more powerful rocket.

So, in 1982, funding was approved to build the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, or PSLV. True to ISRO’s established approach, they took what worked, refined it, and made it truly their own. The PSLV is a four-stage rocket, with each stage powered by a different engine and fuel type. When India was asked what fuel and system they wanted for the first stage, they simply said, “Yes.” The original plan was to use the same solid propellant as the SLV and ASLV, a polymer binder called PBAN. It was a similar fuel used in the solid rocket boosters of the Space Shuttle. PBAN had a high specific impulse and a proven track record, but it came with drawbacks. It was hard to mix, and it needed high temperatures to cure, giving ISRO a hard time manufacturing consistent batches. On top of that, the materials used to create it were imported from the US, and as the Cold War brewed, the US started enforcing stricter export controls on space technology, worried it could be repurposed for military use. So, the PSLV had to adapt.

ISRO shifted to a different binder called HTPB, or Hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene. Its specific impulse is similar to the PBAN binder, but it was far more practical. It cured at room temperature, was easier to mix, and once set, it was more flexible and tough. The first stage of the PSLV uses 138,000 kg of HTPB and can also be fitted with up to six strap-on boosters, arranged in pairs, that can carry an additional 12,000 kg each. To ignite each rocket, a smaller 300 mm diameter HTPB rocket is attached to the top, which is also ignited by a smaller solid rocket. And to ensure personnel safety, the ignition only happens when a safe arm mechanism is remotely set into position. You may also notice smaller attachments that look like additional boosters, but these are strontium perchlorate storage tanks used in the vector control injection system. Along the expansion nozzle of the rocket, you can see the 24 injection ports that can alter the flow of the gas in any direction to control pitch and yaw. This system, however, cannot control the roll, so the PSLV also stores monomethyl hydrazine that is used in small hypergolic reaction nozzles to control the roll of the rocket. For the record, that’s three different fuel types in a single stage! But the show, it certainly does not stop there.

The second stage introduces liquid propulsion, India’s first real experience with this technology. Instead of delving into their own research and potentially delaying the program, ISRO did what they knew best: learn from others. They leveraged their trust with French aerospace companies to craft a peculiar deal where, remarkably, no money ever exchanged hands in order to get a liquid propulsion engine. India didn’t want to spend its foreign currency reserves, but it did want its engineers to get deep, hands-on experience. France, on the other hand, was eager to reduce costs on its Ariane rocket program and build closer ties with India. So, the deal looked something like this: ISRO would contribute the equivalent of around 200,000 hours of engineering or scientific work, which France could use however it saw fit, along with 7,000 pressure sensors. In return, France would provide technical knowledge and the license to produce the Viking engine. The engine that emerged from that deal, when built in India, would be called the Vikas engine. It was exactly what ISRO needed. Liquid fuel engines offer a lot more control than solid fuel ones. The Vikas engine runs on a pair of hypergolic propellants: unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide. The engine itself can throttle, shut down mid-flight and even restart, which gives engineers a lot of control over the rocket’s path. It can also gimbal for pitch and yaw control, and for roll control, it uses some of its own exhaust gases.

The third stage is another solid fuel motor using HTPB. Unlike the first stage, this one can steer by tilting its nozzle. This was the first time ISRO developed a flex nozzle for a rocket motor. The fourth stage has a lightweight liquid-fueled engine designed for fine-tuning the rocket’s position and placing satellites into orbit. It uses an engine similar to the one in the second stage but with slightly different hypergolic propellants with lower freezing points. The inaugural flight of the PSLV took place on September 20th, 1993, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. This space center, located on the other side of the country, facing the Bay of Bengal, was built during the SLV and ASLV eras. Its proximity to the equator and being surrounded by water allows the PSLV to launch satellites into either equatorial or polar orbits around Earth. The mission aimed to deploy an observation satellite into orbit, but a miscalculation led to incorrect attitude corrections, causing the rocket to deviate from its intended trajectory, which finally led to a failure in the second stage separation. Despite the early setbacks, throughout the 1990s and 2000s, the PSLV program became a cornerstone of ISRO’s success.

In its most powerful configuration, the PSLV can carry up to 1,450 kg to geosynchronous orbit. Now, this is a modest capability compared to the Ariane 4, a similar rocket developed at a similar time that could carry twice as much. But the PSLV, it just worked very well for ISRO. Off the back of the PSLV, ISRO has launched 30 satellites for its remote sensing program, circling the planet in sun-synchronous orbit. ISRO has a wide range of observational instruments, imaging invisible infrared, thermal, and microwave bands. These can measure changes in ocean temperature, changes in land use for crop and urban sprawl, and depending on the use case, ISRO can map these changes with a spatial resolution from over 1 kilometer down to under 1 meter, with revisit times as frequent as every 15 minutes. Alongside Indian-made satellites, the PSLV has served as a rideshare launch system and has also launched 365 satellites from 36 different countries, helping India build international diplomatic partnerships. As of December 2024, it has completed 61 launches, with 58 reaching their intended orbits, two outright failures, and one partial failure, achieving an impressive 95% success rate. From the beginning, ISRO’s mission was never to focus on extra-planetary studies, but the huge success of the PSLV and its capabilities made ISRO rethink this strategy. ISRO, it seemed, needed a new challenge.

• PSLV designed for polar and sun-synchronous orbits.
• Shifted from PBAN to HTPB solid propellant due to manufacturing difficulties and import restrictions.
• Utilizes Secondary Injection Thrust Vector Control (SITVC) for pitch and yaw, and monomethyl hydrazine for roll control.
• Second stage introduced liquid propulsion with the Vikas engine, developed through a unique knowledge-sharing deal with France.
• Vikas engine offers throttling, shutdown, and restart capabilities.
• Third stage uses HTPB with a flex nozzle for steering.
• Fourth stage is a lightweight liquid-fueled engine for fine-tuning.
• First PSLV launch (1993) failed due to attitude correction miscalculation.
• PSLV has achieved a 95% success rate over 61 launches (as of Dec 2024).
• Used for remote sensing, monitoring crops, forests, and urban sprawl.
• Has launched 365 satellites for 36 different countries, fostering international partnerships.

Lunar and Martian Ambitions: Chandrayaan and Mangalyaan

ISRO, it seemed, needed a new challenge. The Chandrayaan program is India’s ambitious lunar exploration initiative, designed to expand scientific understanding of the moon and develop advanced spacefaring technologies. Chandrayaan 1 was India’s very first mission to the moon, and it made, well, a huge impact. Launched on October 22nd, 2008, Chandrayaan 1 carried tools made by ISRO to map the moon’s surface and study how it formed. The UK, for its part, contributed an X-ray sensor to help figure out what the moon was made of. But the biggest discovery, perhaps, came from NASA: their infrared instrument, M3, found something scientists had long debated—water molecules hidden in the lunar south pole. On its very first attempt, ISRO made it to the moon and, in doing so, helped kick off a new global race to the lunar south pole. It was quite a moment, really.

Feeling confident after that great success, ISRO set its sights even further: on Mars. In November 2013, India launched its first interplanetary mission, often referred to as Mangalyaan. The spacecraft carried instruments to study Mars’ surface, atmosphere, and climate. It mapped terrain, measured temperature variations, monitored atmospheric loss, and even searched for methane as a potential indicator of past life. These tools, they provided critical insights into the planet’s composition and weather patterns, significantly improving our understanding of Martian conditions. Originally meant to only last six months, the orbiter just kept going for over seven years before contact was lost in 2022. And all of this, mind you, on a budget of just $74 million. It, you know, took India less money to send something to Mars than it took Hollywood to send Matt Damon to a fake Mars. It’s a rather striking comparison, isn’t it?

The route the spacecraft took to Mars was actually a point of contention due to the limited power of the PSLV. The spacecraft first orbited Earth for several weeks, gradually increasing velocity through a series of six orbital maneuvers before finally escaping Earth’s gravity. After a 298-day interplanetary journey, the orbiter successfully entered Martian orbit. This wasn’t the originally planned launch trajectory, to be clear. Almost in parallel with the PSLV, ISRO had already begun work on a more powerful rocket: the GSLV, short for Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle. While the PSLV was built for polar orbits, the GSLV was designed to carry heavier satellites into geosynchronous orbit, at 35,000 km. The plan for the Mars mission was, initially, to use the more powerful GSLV and take a more direct route. But that vision, it ran into trouble. Two consecutive launch failures of the GSLV in 2010 shook confidence in the vehicle just as the Mars mission was being conceived. With the launch window in 2013 looming, ISRO simply did not have enough time to fix the problems and had to fall back on the longer, PSLV-driven route. It just goes to show how adaptable they had to be.

• Chandrayaan program: India’s lunar exploration initiative.
• Chandrayaan 1 (2008): First mission to the moon, discovered water molecules at the lunar south pole.
• Mangalyaan (Mars Orbiter Mission, 2013): India’s first interplanetary mission to Mars.
• Mangalyaan studied Mars’ surface, atmosphere, and climate on a budget of $74 million.
• Mangalyaan orbiter operated for over 7 years, exceeding its planned 6-month lifespan.
• Mars mission used PSLV’s limited power, requiring a longer, multi-orbital maneuver route due to GSLV failures.

The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) and LVM3

The GSLV is a three-stage rocket that uses a solid core, four liquid fuel strap-on boosters, a second stage powered by the Vikas engine, and a new cryogenic upper stage. This time, Russia agreed to provide the KVD-1 cryogenic engine. These engines had never flown but were designed for an upper stage of the N1 rocket. However, due to concerns from the United States that this technology transfer could violate the Missile Technology Control Regime, sanctions were imposed to halt the deal. As a result, Russia delivered fully assembled KVD-1 engines, but India was barred from receiving the technical drawings and engineering know-how to produce it in India. At least India could use these KVD-1 engines in their first version of the GSLV.

The GSLV Mark I made its debut on April 18th, 2001, launching a communication satellite. But the Russian upper stage, well, it underperformed, and the satellite missed its target orbit. The next flight in 2003 showed some progress, but technical issues returned in 2006 with a booster failure. Amidst these failures, ISRO was already working on its own cryogenic engine, the CE-7.5. They had been working on it since 1994, when that Russian deal fell through. It took them until 2008 to conduct the first fire test, and it would take another two years for the engine to replace its Russian counterpart in the GSLV, with the first flight in the GSLV Mark II. Sadly, in its first flight, the rocket crashed due to a fuel booster turbopump malfunction. Its second test came four years later with a successful satellite deployment into geosynchronous orbit, marking a major milestone in India’s cryogenic propulsion technology. But ISRO kept pushing to create a better and heavier rocket with an indigenous cryogenic engine.

The Mark II gave way to a new rocket, similar in looks but quite different within. ISRO calls it the LVM3, and I really wish they would think of more fun names to read over and over and over again, because I’m getting so sick of reading all of these boring, abbreviated names. But compared to the GSLV Mark II, the LVM3 could carry nearly double the payload: four tons to geosynchronous transfer orbit and up to 10 tons to low Earth orbit. The design changed too. While the Mark II used a solid core with four liquid strap-on boosters, the LVM3 flipped the configuration. It starts with two giant solid rocket boosters. These flank a central core stage that is now liquid-fueled, powered by twin Vikas engines. That shift from a solid core to a liquid one gave ISRO more control during flight and improved the rocket’s overall flexibility. That jump in capacity came with major engine upgrades. The Mark II used the CE-7.5 cryogenic engine, a staged combustion cycle engine that, while efficient, had lower thrust. With the LVM3, ISRO transitioned to the C20 engine, which uses a gas generator cycle. This design is simpler and more robust, sacrificing a bit of efficiency for greater reliability and ease of manufacturing. The C20 burns liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen and delivers nearly three times the thrust of its predecessor. This rocket made it possible for India to send even bigger payloads to the moon.

Chandrayaan 2 aimed to build on its predecessor’s success with an orbiter, a lander named Vikram, and a rover called Pragyan. The lander, unfortunately, crashed. A software glitch miscalculated its velocity and altitude during its descent. As we’ve all learned too well recently, it’s really hard to land on the moon. The orbiter is still working, sending images of the moon, including these where you can see the landing sites of Apollo 11 and 12. Learning from these failures, ISRO designed Chandrayaan 3 with improved landing strategies, including variable thrust engines, LAR, and optical hazard detection. Unlike its predecessor, Chandrayaan 3 focused solely on a lander and a rover, excluding an orbiter. Its successful soft landing made India the first country to reach the moon’s south pole. ISRO has gone from strength to strength, and their ambition is showing no signs of wavering. This year, India’s crewed space program will begin its first launches, with the first Indian astronauts being launched on Indian rockets, hopefully coming in 2026, with further plans to launch their own permanently crewed space station. All this, starting with some ambitious engineers transporting rocket parts with bikes, using the tools at their disposal to improve the lives of their fellow Indians. It’s quite a remarkable journey, isn’t it?

• GSLV is a three-stage rocket with solid core, liquid strap-ons, and a cryogenic upper stage.
• Initial GSLV Mark I used Russian KVD-1 cryogenic engines, but technology transfer was restricted.
• Early GSLV Mark I launches faced underperformance and failures.
• ISRO developed its own CE-7.5 cryogenic engine for GSLV Mark II, which also faced initial failures.
• LVM3 (formerly GSLV Mark III) is a more powerful rocket with a liquid core and two large solid boosters.
• LVM3 uses the C20 cryogenic engine, delivering nearly three times the thrust of its predecessor.
• Chandrayaan 2 (LVM3 launch) included an orbiter, lander (Vikram), and rover (Pragyan); lander crashed due to software glitch.
• Chandrayaan 3 (LVM3 launch) successfully soft-landed at the moon’s south pole, making India the first country to do so.
• India plans a crewed space program (first launches by 2026) and a permanently crewed space station.