Address: Vikram Sarabhai Space Center, ISRO PO, Thiruvananthapuram 695022, Kerela, India

Telephone: 0471-562444/555

Fax: 0471-461765

E-mail: Unlisted

Director: Dr. S. Srinivasan

Subordinate to: Indian Space Research Organization, Department of Space

Primary Function: Leading center for research and development in India's rocket and satellite launch vehicle projects.

Description: In 1972, the Indian government reorganized India's space program under the newly created Department of Space. The government consolidated the Space Science & Technology Center, Rocket Propellant Plant, Rocket Fabrication Facility, Propellant Fuel Complex, and the Sriharikota High Altitude Range into an umbrella organization, with its headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerela. This consolidated facility was named the Vikram Sarabhai Space Center (VSSC), after the founding father of India's space program, Dr. Vikram Sarabhai.

Activities: The VSSC is ISRO's "lead center for rocket and [satellite] launch vehicle projects." The Center's activities cover avionics, aeronautics, materials, mechanical engineering, solid-propulsion, composites, propellants, polymers, chemicals, systems reliability, and computer and information technology. The VSSC has played a leading role in developing ISRO's sounding rockets and family of satellite launch vehicles (SLV-3, ASLV, PSLV, and GSLV). It has also helped develop India's Agni I and II ballistic missiles and is most likely involved in the rumored Surya ballistic missile program.

Key Sources:
Gopal Raj, "SLV-3: India's First Launch Vehicle," Reach for the Stars: The Evolution of India's Rocket Programme (New Delhi: Viking/Penguin Books India, 2000), pp. 63, 65-66; "Vikram Sarabhai Space Center," Indian Space Research Organization, <http://www.isro.org>; "VSSC-Vikram Sarabhai Space Center," Bharat Rakshak, <http://www.bharat-rakshak.com>.

	Updated July 2003