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UPPCS Science & Technology Gap Sheet: ISRO: launchers, satellites and centres.
UPPCS has asked 20 of these. 5 have not been asked yet. Lock the first list, then read the second: it holds what UPPCS has not used yet.
First, the concept
A launch vehicle carries a payload into space. A satellite is the payload. Match each vehicle with its role and each satellite with its main service.
ISRO centres divide work between launch vehicles, satellites, applications and tracking. The centre that builds a satellite need not be its launch site.
✅ Already asked (20)
Launch vehicles
- SLV-3 · An early Indian launcher; placed Rohini RS-1 in orbit in 1980.
- PSLV · Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle; widely used for remote-sensing missions.
- GSLV Mk II · Three-stage launcher with an indigenous cryogenic upper stage.
- LVM3 · Earlier called GSLV Mk III; launched Chandrayaan-2 and Chandrayaan-3.
- Cryogenic rocket stage · Indian cryogenic upper stages use liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen at very low temperatures.
Satellites and services
- Aryabhata satellite · India's first satellite; launched by the Soviet Union in 1975.
- IRS-1A · India's first operational remote-sensing satellite; launched from Baikonur in 1988.
- INSAT system · Provides communication, broadcasting and meteorological services.
- Kalpana-1 · Meteorological satellite originally named METSAT.
- EOS-01 · Earth observation for agriculture, forestry and disaster support; not artificial rain.
- RISAT-2 · Radar imaging satellite launched by PSLV-C12 in 2009 alongside ANUSAT.
- GAGAN · GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation; supports accurate civil aviation navigation.
- APPLE · Ariane Passenger Payload Experiment; experimental communication satellite launched in 1981.
ISRO institutions
- ISRO headquarters · Indian Space Research Organisation; headquarters in Bengaluru.
- Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre · Thiruvananthapuram; major launch-vehicle development centre.
- U R Rao Satellite Centre · Bengaluru; formerly ISRO Satellite Centre, responsible for satellite development.
- Space Applications Centre · Ahmedabad; develops space applications and payloads.
- National Remote Sensing Centre · Hyderabad; processes and supplies remote-sensing data.
- Satish Dhawan Space Centre · Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh; India's principal satellite launch site.
Recent (2024 onwards)
- NISAR satellite (2025) · NASA–ISRO radar satellite with L-band and S-band; launched by GSLV-F16 from Sriharikota on 30 July 2025.
❌ Not asked yet (5)
Items marked 'asked in other exams' have come in UPSC or other state exams, not yet in UPPCS.
🔒 5 items not asked yet
Launch vehicles: 1 · Satellites and services: 1 · ISRO institutions: 2 · Recent (2024 onwards): 1
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⚠️ SLV-3 is a launch vehicle, not a satellite. The satellite construction centre is in Bengaluru, not Sriharikota.
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