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| Attribute | GSLV Mk III (LVM3) 🇮🇳 India Trust: Agency-primaryⓘ Last verified Active · Last updated 2026-06-01Remove × | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | ISRO | Rocket Lab | ISRO |
| Country | 🇮🇳 India | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇮🇳 India |
| Status | Active | In Development | Active |
| Vehicle class | Medium | Medium | Heavy |
| Propellant | Solid (PS1/PS3) + UDMH/N₂O₄ (PS2/PS4) — 4 alternating stages | CH₄ / LOX | Solid (S200 boosters) + UDMH/N₂O₄ (L110) + LH₂/LOX (C25) |
| Reusable | No | Yes | No |
| Stages | 4 | 2 | 3 |
| First flight | 1993 | 2026 | 2017 |
| Payload to LEO | 3,800 kgas of [1]PSLV-XL with 6 extended solid strap-ons. Standard PSLV-G: 3,250 kg LEO. SSO: ~1,750 kg | 13,000 kgas of [1]Expendable; ~8,000 kg reusable with first-stage return ↑ Best | 10,000 kgas of [1] |
| Payload to GTO | — | — | 4,000 kgas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Height | 44 mas of [1] ↑ Best | ~40 mas of [1] | 43.43 mas of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | 320 tas of [1]PSLV-XL configuration | ~481 tas of [1] | 643 tas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Success rate | 93.7%as of [2]60/64 mission successes. Two consecutive recent failures: C61 (2024) and C62 (Jan 12, 2026, stage-3 anomaly, 16 satellites lost). | — | 100%as of [2]10/10 missions since development flight 2014 (D1). Production flights since 2017. ↑ Best |
| Total flights | 64as of [2] ↑ Best | — | 10as of [2] |
| Cost / kg LEO | ~$4,000/kgas of [1]Estimated from commercial launch contracts ↓ Cheapest | — | ~$4,500/kgas of [1]Estimated from OneWeb commercial contract ~$450M for 36 satellites (~5 tonne batch to GTO) |
| Summary | India's most reliable and frequently flown launch vehicle, operational since 1994. Set a world record in Feb 2017 by deploying 104 satellites in a single flight (Cartosat-2D + 103 microsats). Launched Chandrayaan-1 (2008), Mars Orbiter Mission (2013), and Aditya-L1 (2023). The dual C61/C62 failure streak raised concerns about aging solid motor design. | Rocket Lab's medium-lift reusable rocket targeting the $100B constellation replenishment market. Uses a 'hungry hippo' fairings design that opens at the top rather than traditional clamshell separation. First flight delayed to Q4 2026 after a Jan 2026 propellant tank test anomaly. | India's most powerful rocket. Launched Chandrayaan-3 (Moon lander) in Jul 2023 and OneWeb internet satellites commercially. Renamed LVM3 (Launch Vehicle Mark 3) in 2022. The CE-20 cryogenic engine was entirely ISRO-developed — previously India depended on Russian technology for the GSLV Mk II. |
28 launch vehicles across 10 countries — active, retired, and in development — with primary-source citations from manufacturer user guides and agency press kits. Pure URL state: bookmark or share the link and the comparison reproduces exactly.