Launch vehicles are rockets that help in placing the satellite and space missions to a particular orbit envisioned by the scientist. The type of launch vehicle to be used depends on the orbit to which a particular satellite has to be placed and the weight of the satellite to be placed.

Facts to know about ISRO Launch Vehicle

• India has three active operational launch vehicles: Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), and Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk-III (LVM3).
• Satellite Launch Vehicle-3 (SLV-3) was India’s first experimental satellite launch vehicle, which was an all-solid, four-stage vehicle weighing 17 tonnes.
• The second launcher to be prepared was ASLV, which was configured as a five-stage, all-solid propellant vehicle, with a mission of orbiting 150 kg-class satellites into 400 km circular orbits.
• PSLV or Workhorse of ISRO can launch satellites to Low Earth Orbit. It can take up to 1,750 kg of payload to Sun-Synchronous Polar Orbits of 600 km altitude.
• GSLV can place up to 6 tonnes in Low Earth Orbits which is helping to place payloads from heavy satellites to multiple smaller satellites into orbit.
• Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) is a 3 stage Launch Vehicle configured with three Solid Propulsion Stages and a liquid propulsion based Velocity Trimming Module (VTM) as a terminal stage.

Source: The Hindu