An overview of India's space capabilities — launch vehicles, satellite systems, and headline missions.
ISRO operates a family of launch vehicles suited to different payload needs. The PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) is India's most reliable workhorse, used for placing satellites into polar and sun-synchronous orbits, and has also carried out record-setting multi-satellite launches. The GSLV (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) handles heavier payloads destined for geostationary orbit, using an indigenously developed cryogenic upper stage. The newest addition, the LVM3 (formerly GSLV Mk III), is India's most powerful operational launcher, capable of carrying heavier communication satellites and crewed missions.
India's satellite fleet spans several categories: communication satellites (the INSAT/GSAT series), remote-sensing satellites (used for agriculture, disaster management, and resource mapping), and navigation satellites under the NavIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation) system — India's own regional alternative to GPS, providing positioning services over India and the surrounding region.
Beyond launch vehicles and satellites, ISRO has also executed headline interplanetary and human spaceflight-adjacent missions — this page gives the broad framework; the full detail on missions like Chandrayaan, Mangalyaan, and Gaganyaan is best explored through ISRO's dedicated page on this site, since that programme has grown large enough to deserve its own space.
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