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This article is about the Indian launch vehicle. For the general term, see Launch vehicle. For newer Indian small launch system, see Small Satellite Launch Vehicle.

The Satellite Launch Vehicle or SLV was a small-lift launch vehicle project started in the early 1970s by ISRO to develop the technology needed to launch satellites. SLV was intended to reach a height of 400 kilometres (250 mi) and carry a payload of 40 kg (88 lb).[2] It was a four-stage rocket with all solid-propellant motors.[3]

History

The SLV-3 project was the first Indian Satellite launch vehicle project to develop a rocket capable of launching an 40 kilogram Rohini satellite into low-earth orbit from India. The project was setup in early 1972 by Vikram Sarabhai for an inaugural launch in 1977.[4] The project was led by Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam as the project director, along with other prominent Indian engineers such as Dr. S. Srinivasan, Ved Prakash Sandlas, D. Narayanamoorthi, G. Madhavan Nair, M.S.R. Dev, M.K. Abdul Majeed, D. Sasikumar, P.S. Veeraraghavan and A. Sivathanu Pillai. India would develop and launch its first satellite, Aryabhatta on a Soviet Kosmos-3M rocket in 1975.[5] The rocket represented the culmination of seven years of developmental efforts of ISRO. The rocket was designed with 44 major systems and 250 sub-systems and was mostly built in Thumba. Much of the control systems were developed on the indigenous Iris 55 computers. The total development cost for the SLV-3 programme by 1980 was ₹20 crore (equivalent to ₹463 crore or US$48 million in 2023). Some components (up to 15% of the original design) had been developed from a joint project with CNES for the upper stage development, which was partially inspired from the Diamant rocket.[6][4][7]

The SLV-3 was primarily developed from technology built for the smaller Rohini sounding rockets which had been used by ISRO previously. The SLV-3 was unique in the fact that it was not derived from an pre-existing Ballistic missile, as the early rockets of most nations were. The First stage of the SLV-3 rocket would eventually be used on the PSLV as a booster stage. The stage would also be repurposed for the India’s strategic Agni ballistic missile family.[8][9][10]

It took approximately seven years to realise the vehicle from start. The solid motor case for first and second stage were fabricated from 15 CDV6 steel sheets and third and fourth stages from fibre reinforced plastic.[1] The aerodynamic characterization research was conducted at the National Aerospace Laboratories‘ 1.2m Trisonic Wind Tunnel Facility.[11]

The first launch of the SLV took place in Sriharikota on 10 August 1979. The fourth and final launch of the SLV took place on 17 April 1983.

The United States would later accuse India that the SLV-3 rocket was a copied derivative of the Scout rocket, and the Agni-I missile (with SLV-3 design heritage) combined it with a liquid fuelled stage from the SA-2 missile.[12][7] The US would also claim German,French and Russian compliancy for the rocket, with the Germans supplying most major technologies and the testing wind-tunnel models. The Indian scientists have opposed it, stating that the rocket was built for peaceful exploration purposes. Notably, while the rocket shared some superficial design similarities, they used different propellants, and the SLV-3 incorporated a higher Length/Diameter ratio, had different thrust rates and burn times. Unlike the early Scout rockets, the SLV-3 incorporated a larger payload fairing, although they could not launch as much payload to orbit.[13][14]

Launch history

All four SLV launches occurred from the SLV Launch Pad at the Sriharikota High Altitude Range. The first two launches were experimental (E) and the next 2 were designated as developmental (D) as this was the first launch vehicle being developed by India and was not intended for a long service life.[15] The first experimental flight of SLV, in August 1979, was a failure.[3] The first successful launch took place on 18 July 1980.

Flight No. Date / time (UTC) Rocket,
Configuration 		Launch site Payload Payload mass Orbit User Launch
outcome
E1 10 August 1979 Satellite Launch Vehicle SLV Launch Pad Rohini Technology Payload[16] 35 kg Low Earth ISRO Failure
Faulty valve caused vehicle to crash into the Bay of Bengal 317 seconds after launch.[15][17]
E2 18 July 1980 Satellite Launch Vehicle SLV Launch Pad Rohini RS-1 35 kg Low Earth ISRO Success [15]
It was the first satellite successfully launched by the indigenous launch vehicle SLV. It provided data on the fourth stage of SLV.
D1 31 May 1981 Satellite Launch Vehicle SLV Launch Pad Rohini RS-D1 38 kg Low Earth ISRO Partial failure
Orbit too low. Decayed after nine days[15]
D2 17 April 1983 Satellite Launch Vehicle SLV Launch Pad Rohini RS-D2 41.5 kg Low Earth ISRO Success[15]
Earth Observation satellite. The launch was witnessed by then Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi.[6]

Launch statistics

1
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
  •   Failure
  •   Partial failure
  •   Success
Decade-wise summary of SLV launches
Decade Successful Partial success Failure Total
1970s 0 0 1 1
1980s 2 1 0 3
Total 2 1 1 4

See also

References

  1. ^ a b “First Successful Launch of SLV-3 – Silver Jubilee” (PDF). ISRO. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  2. ^ “Launch Vehicles”. Department of Space, Government of India. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
  3. ^ a b “SLV”. isro.gov.in. Archived from the original on 29 May 2017. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
  4. ^ a b Dubey, Suman; Menon, Amarnath (15 August 1980). “India takes its first step into outer space with the launch of SLV-3”. India Today. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  5. ^ Jaswanth (30 May 2021). “A Glimpse into History of ISRO”. SPACE Curiosity. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  6. ^ a b TS, Subramaniyan (26 August 2005). “New horizons”. Frontline. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  7. ^ a b Abdul Kalam, Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen (1999). Wings of Fire (1st ed.). India: Universities Press. ISBN 978-8173711466.
  8. ^ https://www.prl.res.in/~rajiv/planexnews/oldarticles/Volume%20-2,%20Issue-4.8-12.pdf
  9. ^ https://www.britannica.com/technology/launch-vehicle/Launch-vehicles-of-the-world#ref959181
  10. ^ Vasant, Gowarikar; Suresh, B. N. (1 December 2009). “History of rocketry in India”. Acta Astronautica. 65 (11): 1515–1519. doi:10.1016/j.actaastro.2009.03.083. ISSN 0094-5765.
  11. ^ “Bengaluru: 1.2m trisonic wind tunnel at National Aerospace Laboratories completes 55 years of service”. ANI. 6 June 2022. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
  12. ^ “The Link Between Space Launch and Missile Technology”. Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control. 16 March 2000. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  13. ^ Menon, Amarnath K. (16 January 2014). “SLV-3 is closer to the American Scout launcher: Abdul Kalam”. India Today. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  14. ^ “BHARAT RAKSHAK MONITOR”. www.bharat-rakshak.com. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  15. ^ a b c d e Subramanian, TS. “Silver jubilee of the first successful SLV-3”. Frontiline. Archived from the original on 8 February 2018. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  16. ^ “Rohini Technology Payload”. Archived from the original on 31 July 2017. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
  17. ^ “SLV-3 launch fails, plunges into Bay of Bengal seconds after take-off”. India Today. 24 February 2014. Retrieved 5 May 2026.