| विक्रम साराभाई अंतरिक्ष केंद्र | |
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 Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 21 November 1963; 62 years ago (1963-11-21) |
| Jurisdiction | Department of Space |
| Headquarters | Thiruvananthapuram,Kerala,India 8°31′48″N76°52′18″E / 8.53000°N 76.87167°E /8.53000; 76.87167 |
| Annual budget | See the budget ofISRO |
| Agency executive |
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| Parent agency | ISRO |
| Website | ISRO VSSC home page |
TheVikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) is a major space research centre ofISRO, focusing on rocket and space vehicles for India'ssatellite programme. It is located inThiruvananthapuram, in the Indian state ofKerala.
The centre had its beginnings as theThumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station in 1962. It was renamed in honour ofVikram Sarabhai, often regarded as the father of the Indian space program.H.G.S. Murthy was appointed as the first director of Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station.[2]
The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre is one of the main and largest research and development establishments within ISRO. VSSC is an entirely indigenous facility working on the development of sounding rockets, the Rohini and Menaka launchers, andSLV,ASLV,PSLV,GSLV andLVM3 families of launch vehicles.
After incorporation of theIndian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) in 1962, its first act was the establishment of theThumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station at Thumba, in Thiruvananthapuram.[3] Thumba was picked as the launch site for sounding rockets for meteorological and upper atmospheric research due to its location on the geomagnetic equator.H.G.S. Murthy was appointed as the first director of the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station.[4]
21 November 1963 marked India's first venture into space, with the launch of a two-stageNike Apachesounding rocket fromTERLS. The first rockets launched were built in United States.
The first Indian designed and built rocket, RH-75, made its maiden flight on 20 November 1967. This was the 52nd launch of a sounding rocket from TERLS. It was flown twice again in 1967 and another 12 times in 1968, making a total of 15 RH-75 flights.
Among the sounding rockets to have flown from TERLS wereArcas-1,Arcas-11,Centaure-1, 11A and 11B,Dragon-1, Dual Hawk, Judy Dart, Menaka-1, Menaka-1Mk 1 and Mk11,Nike Tomahawk, M-100,Petrel, RH-100, RH-125, RH-200 (S), RH-300, variants of RH-560, etc. There have been a total of nearly 2200 sounding rocket launches from TERLS, so far.
Over the years VSSC has designed, developed and since 1965 started launching a family of sounding rockets under the generic name,Rohini sounding rockets to serve a range of scientific missions. The currently operational Rohini Sounding Rockets are RH-200, RH-300, RH-560 and their different versions. These sounding rockets are launched for carrying out research in areas like meteorology and upper atmospheric processes up to an altitude of about 500 km.[5]
TERLS was formally dedicated to theUnited Nations on 2 February 1968, by thenPrime Minister of India,Indira Gandhi.[6][7] Although no direct funding from the UN was involved, scientists from several countries including United States, Russia (formerUSSR), France, Japan, Germany and UK continue to utilize the TERLS facility for conducting rocket based experiments. Over 1161 USSR meteorological sounding rockets called M-100 were launched from TERLS every week from 1970 until 1993.
After the sudden demise of Vikram Sarabhai on 30 December 1971, TERLS and associated space establishments at Thiruvananthapuram were renamed as theVikram Sarabhai Space Centre in his honour.
In the early 1980s, VSSC was instrumental in the development of India'sSatellite Launch Vehicle program, SLV-3. This was followed in the late 1980s with theAugmented Satellite Launch Vehicle, for launching 150 kg satellites into near earth orbits.
In the 1990s, VSSC contributed to the development of India's workhorse launch vehicle, thePolar Satellite Launch Vehicle.
In 2023, the VSSC created FEAST (Finite Element Analysis of Structures), an analysis program that may be used to doFinite Element Analysis (FEA) on a variety of structures, including as buildings, aircraft, satellites, rockets, and so forth. It is now accessible for application in Indian academic institutions and business sectors. It will lessen reliance on pricey, licensed software from overseas companies. It comes in three versions: academic, premium, and professional, and it can run onLinux distributions andMicrosoft Windows. In an effort to increase the software's use among undergraduate and graduate students,S. Somanath andS. Unnikrishnan Nair wrote a book that provides insights into the program.[8]
VSSC is a leading centre of ISRO responsible for the design and development of launch vehicle technology. VSSC has a large workforce of about 4500 employees, most of them specialists in frontier disciplines. The Centre pursues active research and development in the fields ofaeronautics,avionics,materials, mechanisms, vehicle integration,chemicals,propulsion,stage separation systems, structures,space physics and systems reliability
In addition to its main campus located atThumba and Veli, VSSC has integration and checkout facilities located at Valiamala. Facilities for development of reinforced plastics and composites are located atVattiyoorkavu in Thiruvananthapuram City. The ISRO plant inAluva producesammonium perchlorate, a vital ingredient for solid propellant motors.TERLS and theSpace Physics Laboratory (SPL) are also within the VSSC campus. SPL focuses on research activities in disciplines such as atmospheric boundary layer physics, numerical atmospheric modeling, atmospheric aerosols, atmospheric chemistry, trace gases, atmospheric dynamics, thermospheric-ionospheric physics, planetary sciences, etc. Recently a new Tri-sonic wind tunnel will also be set up at the facility.[9] A new deop-test facility for theRLV program was also inaugurated at VSSC in 2025.[10]
As part of three space infrastructure projects totaling₹1,800crore,Prime MinisterNarendra Modi formally inaugurated the Trisonic Wind Tunnel (TWT) at the VSSC on February 27, 2024 for testing the aerodynamic design of rockets to make them more efficient. Following the 1.2-meter TWT atNational Aerospace Laboratories in Bengaluru and theDefence Research and Development Organization's Hypersonic Wind Tunnel (HWT) at theDr APJ Abdul Kalam Missile Complex in Hyderabad, the TWT is India's third hypersonic wind tunnel. The TWT may function in three different wind velocity ranges:subsonic,transonic, andhypersonic.[11][12][13]
Over the last four decades VSSC has become the leading centre for development of launch vehicle technology.[14]
VSSC has a matrix organization based on Projects and Entities. Core project teams manage project activities. System level activities of the projects are carried out by system development agencies. Major programmes of VSSC include thePSLV,Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle,LVM3,Rohini sounding rocket series,Space Capsule Recovery Experiment,Reusable Launch Vehicles andAir Breathing Propulsion.
VSSC pursues research and development in the fields of aeronautics, avionics, composites, computer and information technology, control guidance and simulation, launch vehicle design, mechanical engineering, mechanisms vehicle integration and testing, propellants polymers and materials, propulsion propellants and space ordnance, and systems reliability. These research Entities are the system development agencies for the Projects and thus provide for the realization of the project objectives. Management systems area provides for programme planning and evaluation, human resource development, budget and manpower, technology transfer, documentation and outreach activities.
VSSC is certified for compliance to ISO 9001:2000 quality management system. The quality objectives of the centre are planning, implementing and maintaining a quality system during design, development, production, and operation of subsystems and systems for launch vehicles. It also aims at achieving continued improvement in process for its zero defect goal.
In January 2007, theSRE-1 was safely brought back to earth after 10 days in orbit. This involved a host of technologies developed at VSSC, includingthermal protection systems to withstand the large heat flux ofatmospheric re-entry. VSSC made significant contribution to India's maiden mission to the Moon,Chandrayaan-1.
VSSC's R&D efforts have included solid propellant formulations. Another focus area has been navigation systems; theISRO Inertial Systems Unit established at Vattiyoorkavu is a part of VSSC.
VSSC also has programs focused on applications of space technology including village resource centres,telemedicine,tele-education,disaster management support and outreach throughDirect To Home television broadcast.
The first batch of the 32-bit VIKRAM3201 and KALPANA3201 microprocessors for space applications, which were designed and developed by VSSC andSemi-Conductor Laboratory, was handed over toV. Narayanan on 5 March 2025. Since 2009, ISRO'slaunch vehicles' has been using the 16-bit VIKRAM1601 microprocessor; it will be replaced by the VIKRAM3201 microprocessor. ThePOEM-4 Mission Management Computer successfully verified the VIKRAM3201, which features a custominstruction set architecture,floating-point processing capabilities, andAda support.
Based on theIEEE 1754ISA, the KALPANA3201 is a 32-bitSPARC V8 processor. It has been tested using flight software and is compatible with anopen-source software toolkit, as well as an in-house simulator andintegrated development environment.[15][16][17] VIKRAM3201 will oversee mission, control, and navigation in launch vehicles during flight. It hasMIL-STD-1553B interface for dependable mission-related connectivity.[18]
| Name of director[19] | Tenure |
|---|---|
| S. Somanath | 2018–2022 |
| K. Sivan | 2015–2018 |
| Madhavan Chandradathan | 2014–2015 |
| S. Ramakrishnan | 2013–2014 |
| P. S. Veeraraghavan | 2009–2012 |
| K. Radhakrishnan | 2007–2009 |
| B. N. Suresh | 2003–2007 |
| G. Madhavan Nair | 1999–2003 |
| S. Srinivasan | 1994–1999 |
| Pramod Kale | February 1994–November 1994 |
| Suresh Chandra Gupta | 1985–1994 |
| Vasant R. Gowariker | 1979–1985 |
| Brahm Prakash | 1972–1979 |
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