Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre

The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) is located on the Arabian Sea coastline of Trivandrum, the capital city of the Kerala state in India. It is a major space research centre of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), where space vehicles are developed for the Indian satellite programme.

The VSSC is located between the villages of Veli to the south, Kulathoor to east, and Pallithura to the north. The location of VSSC is traditionally and conveniently associated with the nearby village of Thumba which has no border with VSSC.

The Vikram Sarabhai Space Center is ISRO's one of the main Research & Development establishment. Its facilities were built near the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS), on the west coast of India, about 10 miles (16 km) north of Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala State. VSSC was named after the late Professor Vikram Sarabhai (1919-1971), founder of the Indian Space Program. VSSC is an entirely national facility working on the development of sounding rockets; Rohini and Menaka, launchers; ASLV, PSLV and GSLV, along with the solid motor program.

"There are some who question the relevance of space activities in a developing nation. To us, there is no ambiguity of purpose. We do not have the fantasy of competing with the economically advanced nations in the exploration of the moon or the planets or manned space-flight. But we are convinced that if we are to play a meaningful role nationally, and in the community of nations, we must be second to none in the application of advanced technologies to the real problems of man and society." "- Vikram Sarabhai

ISRO's Launch Vehicle programme started with development of SLV-3, first successfully launched on July 18, 1980 followed by two more flights. The second launch vehicle was Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle which had two successful flights. The development of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle has been completed with two successful flights and is now available for operational use. PSLV successfully launched SRE-1 and was also used for launching ISRO's first exclusive commercial mission, PSLV C-8.Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) is also operational. A new heavy lift vehicle, GSLV Mark-3 is currently under development.

ee also

*Indian Space Research Organisation

References

* [http://www.isro.org/about_isro.htm ISRO]
* [http://www.vssc.gov.in Official website of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre]

External links

* [http://www.vssc.gov.in/internet/getPage.php?page=Museum%20Home&pageId=284 VSSC Space Museum]