SLV-3 (Satellite Launch Vehicle-3) was India's first rocket able to reach orbit: a 22-metre, 17-tonne vehicle with four solid-fuel stages that could place a 40 kg satellite in low Earth orbit. It flew four times between 1979 and 1983, and its success on 18 July 1980 made India one of the few nations to launch a satellite on its own rocket.
SLV-3 flew only four times. This story starts with the sounding rockets that taught India rocketry, because SLV-3 grew directly out of them.
6 milestones from 1963 to 1983: 2 successes, 1 failures, 1 partial successes and 2 other milestones.
India's rocket programme began with small sounding rockets launched from a fishing village near Thiruvananthapuram. Building those taught ISRO's engineers solid propellants, motor casings and guidance — the foundations of SLV-3.
21 Nov 1963 · Nike-Apache · Milestone · Start of India's rocket programme
A US-made Nike-Apache sounding rocket lifted off from Thumba, on the Kerala coast, to study the upper atmosphere. Parts were famously carried to the launch site by bicycle, and a church served as an office. Thumba sits almost on the magnetic equator, which made it ideal for atmospheric research.
20 Nov 1967 · Rohini · Milestone
The Rohini RH-75, a small sounding rocket designed and built in India, flew from Thumba. The Rohini series that followed grew in size and gave ISRO the solid-motor experience SLV-3 would need.
The SLV-3 project was led by A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, later President of India. Its first flight failed; the next three all reached orbit, though one only briefly.
10 Aug 1979 · SLV-3 · Failure
The first experimental flight lost control during its second stage and fell into the Bay of Bengal with its Rohini satellite. ISRO's own page describes the flight as "partially successful" because the first stage and many systems performed as designed.
ISRO chairman Satish Dhawan faced the press himself and took responsibility — a moment Kalam often described as a lesson in leadership.
18 Jul 1980 · SLV-3 · Success · India's first orbital launch
SLV-3 placed the 35 kg Rohini RS-1 in low Earth orbit from Sriharikota. India joined the small group of countries able to launch their own satellites — the seventh by most counts, the sixth by ISRO's.
Comeback from SLV-3 E1.
What went wrong: The rocket lost control during its second stage and fell into the Bay of Bengal.
Why: A valve in the second-stage control system malfunctioned, so the stage could not steer.
What fixed it: The control system was corrected and re-qualified; the next SLV-3 reached orbit 11 months later.
31 May 1981 · SLV-3 · Partial
The first developmental flight carried Rohini RS-D1, India's first satellite with a remote-sensing camera. A shortfall in performance left it in a lower orbit than planned, and it re-entered the atmosphere within days.
17 Apr 1983 · SLV-3 · Success
The last SLV-3 placed Rohini RS-D2 in orbit, where its camera returned images of India. With four flights complete, ISRO moved on to the ASLV, which added strap-on boosters to the same core.
SLV-3, the Satellite Launch Vehicle-3. Its second flight, on 18 July 1980, placed the Rohini RS-1 satellite in orbit — the first time India launched a satellite on its own rocket.
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam was the project director for SLV-3. He later led India's missile programme and served as President of India from 2002 to 2007.
Most sources count India as the seventh, after the Soviet Union, the United States, France, Japan, China and the United Kingdom. ISRO's own SLV-3 page describes India as the sixth member of the spacefaring club. The difference comes from whether the United Kingdom's single 1971 launch is counted.
On 10 August 1979 the rocket lost control during its second stage. Published histories attribute this to a malfunctioning valve in the second-stage control system. The problem was fixed, and the next flight reached orbit in July 1980.
Related: All ISRO Rockets, ASLV, ISRO Missions Timeline, India's Launch Stations.