ISRO has flown six families of rockets. SLV-3 and ASLV taught it to reach orbit; PSLV became its workhorse for low and sun-synchronous orbits; GSLV added a cryogenic stage to reach geosynchronous orbit; LVM3 carries its heaviest payloads, from Chandrayaan to Gaganyaan; and SSLV launches small satellites quickly.
| Rocket | Height | Lift-off mass | Stages | To LEO / SSO | To GTO | Flights | Success |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SLV-3 | 22 m | 17 t | 1 | 40 kg (LEO) | — | 4 | 50% |
| ASLV | 24 m | 41 t | 2 | 150 kg (LEO (~400 km)) | — | 4 | 50% |
| PSLV | 44 m | 320 t | 4 | 1,750 kg (Sun-synchronous (600 km)) | 1,425 kg | 64 | 92% |
| GSLV | 51.7 m | 420 t | 4 | 6,000 kg (LEO) | 2,250 kg | 20 | 70% |
| LVM3 | 43.5 m | 640 t | 3 | 8,000 kg (LEO (600 km)) | 4,000 kg | 9 | 100% |
| SSLV | 34 m | 120 t | 2 | 500 kg (LEO (500 km)) | — | 3 | 67% |
India's first orbital rocket, all solid. First flight 1979. Full SLV-3 story.
SLV-3 with two strap-on boosters. First flight 1987. Full ASLV story.
The workhorse — low and sun-synchronous orbits. First flight 1993. Full PSLV story.
Cryogenic upper stage for geosynchronous orbits. First flight 2001. Full GSLV story.
Heaviest lift — Chandrayaan, OneWeb, Gaganyaan. First flight 2014. Full LVM3 story.
Small satellites, launched quickly and cheaply. First flight 2022. Full SSLV story.
PSLV has four stages that alternate solid and liquid fuel and is mostly used for satellites in low and sun-synchronous orbits, up to about 1,750 kg to SSO. GSLV replaces the upper stages with a cryogenic stage burning liquid hydrogen and oxygen, which lets it lift heavier satellites — about 2,250 kg — towards geosynchronous orbit 36,000 km up.
LVM3, formerly called GSLV Mk III. It weighs about 640 tonnes at lift-off and, by ISRO's figures, can carry 8,000 kg to a 600 km orbit or 4,000 kg to geosynchronous transfer orbit. It launched Chandrayaan-2 and 3, the OneWeb satellites and the 6,100 kg BlueBird Block-2 — the heaviest payload ever launched from India.
LVM3 has succeeded on all of its flights so far. PSLV has the longest record, with 59 successes in 64 launches, though two consecutive third-stage failures in 2025 and 2026 have put its reliability under review.
A cryogenic engine burns liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen kept at extremely low temperatures. It gives much more energy per kilogram of propellant than solid or ordinary liquid fuels, which an upper stage needs to push a heavy satellite all the way to geosynchronous transfer orbit. India first flew its own cryogenic stage successfully on GSLV-D5 in 2014.
The Small Satellite Launch Vehicle carries satellites of up to about 500 kg to low Earth orbit. It is designed to be assembled and launched within days by a small team, for customers who don't want to wait for space on a larger rocket.
Related: ISRO missions timeline, next ISRO launch, ISRO satellite tracker.