Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre

Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) is ISRO's lead center for launch vehicle technology, located in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, named after India's space program founder. Established in 1962, VSSC is responsible for the design, development, and realization of all ISRO launch vehicles — including PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle), GSLV (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle), GSLV Mk III (also called LVM3), and the future NGLV (Next Generation Launch Vehicle). The centre operates extensive propulsion test facilities for both solid and liquid rocket motors, composite manufacturing facilities for rocket structures, and an electronics systems laboratory. VSSC employs approximately 6,000 scientists and engineers and is the institutional brain behind India's launch capability from its first sounding rockets in the 1960s through the LVM3 rocket that launched the Gaganyaan crew module qualification mission in 2023.