Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle
Template:Infobox Four Stage Launch Vehicle
PSLV or Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle is an expendable launch system operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It was developed to allow India to launch its Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellites into sun synchronous orbits, a service that was, until the advent of the PSLV, commercially viable only from Russia. PSLV can also launch small size satellites into Geo Transfer Orbits.
The vehicle consists of two solid-propellant stages (stage 1 and 3) and two liquid stages (2 and 4).
After some delays, the first launch of the PSLV occurred on 20 September 1993. Although all main engines performed as expected, an altitude control problem was reported in the second and third stages. After this initial setback, ISRO met complete success with the third developmental launch in 1996. Further successful launches followed in 1997, 1999, and 2001.
In September 2002, the 1060 kg KALPANA-1 was launched by PSLV-C4 to a GTO orbit (Geo Transfer Orbit). On 17 October 2003, the 1360 kg Earth observing ResourceSat1 was launched by PSLV-C5.
On May 5, 2005, PSLV-C6 launched two satellites into orbit; CARTOSAT-I a stereoscopic Earth observation satellite with cartographic applications, weighing 1560 kg, and HAMSAT providing satellite based radio service for amateur radio operators, weighing 42.5 kg into a high polar orbit (632 x 621 km).
PSLV will continue be the work horse of the ISRO for its launches, especially for LEO satellites and the Chandrayaan Projects. It has undergone several improvements with each subsequent version, especially those involving thrust, efficiency and weight.
Launch log
| Version | Date of Launch | Launch Location | Payload | Mission Status |
| D1 | 20 September,1993 | Sriharikota | IRS 1E | Failure; Software error causes vehicle crash in to the Bay of Bengal (700 s after take off), Developmental Flight |
| D2 | 15 October,1994 | Sriharikota | IRS P2 | Success, Developmental Flight |
| D3 | 21 March,1996 | Sriharikota | IRS P3 | Success, Developmental Flight |
| C1 | 29 September,1997 | Sriharikota | IRS 1D | Partial Failure; Suboptimal injection of Satellite. |
| C2 | 26 May,1999 | Sriharikota | OceanSat 1, DLR-Tubsat, KitSat 3 | Success |
| C3 | 22 October, 2001 | Sriharikota | TES, Proba[1], BIRD | Success |
| C4 | 12 September,2002 | Sriharikota | METSAT 1 (Kalpana 1) | Success; Satellite injected into an GTO. |
| C5 | 17 October,2003 | Sriharikota | ResourceSat 1 | Success |
| C6 | 5 May,2005 | Sriharikota (Second Launch Pad). | CartoSat 1, HAMSAT | Success |
| C7 | April 2006 | Sriharikota (Second Launch Pad). | CartoSat 2, SRE, LAPAN-TUBSAT | Planned |
Next scheduled launch: October, 2005.