How many stages does the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) have?
- A.Two
- B.Three
- C.Four
- D.Five
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is C, four. The PSLV is unusual in alternating propellants between its stages: the first and third stages burn solid propellant and the second and fourth burn liquid propellant. The liquid fourth stage can be restarted and throttled, which is what lets the vehicle drop satellites into more than one orbit on the same flight.
Option B, three, is the number of stages in GSLV Mk II and in LVM3, and is the answer candidates give when they mix the vehicles up. Option A, two, matches no Indian orbital vehicle. Option D, five, is closer to the Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle, which is counted as a five-stage rocket because of its strap-on boosters. Note that the six strap-on motors on the larger PSLV versions are not counted as a separate stage, since they burn alongside the first stage.
Read the full article: ISRO Launch Vehicles: PSLV, GSLV, LVM3 and SSLV Notes
Practice Questions
View allChandrayaan-3 was placed in orbit by which Indian launch vehicle?
- A.PSLV-XL
- B.GSLV Mk II
- C.LVM3
- D.SSLV
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Chandrayaan-3 weighed close to 3,900 kg at lift-off, far beyond the reach of any lighter Indian rocket, so it flew on LVM3, the vehicle earlier named GSLV Mk III.
Read the full explanation →Which was the first Indian launch vehicle to place a satellite in orbit, and which satellite did it carry?
- A.ASLV, carrying SROSS-C
- B.SLV-3, carrying Rohini RS-1
- C.PSLV, carrying IRS-1A
- D.SLV-3, carrying Aryabhata
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On 18 July 1980 the four-stage, all-solid SLV-3 placed the small Rohini RS-1 satellite in a low earth orbit from Sriharikota, and India became the sixth nation able to launch its own satellite.
Read the full explanation →In the GSLV Mk II, which stage is the cryogenic stage?
- A.First stage
- B.Second stage
- C.Third stage
- D.Fourth stage
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The GSLV has three stages: a solid core first stage with four liquid strap-on motors, a liquid second stage using a Vikas engine, and a cryogenic upper stage that burns liquid hydrogen with liquid oxygen.
Read the full explanation →Chandrayaan-1 and the Mars Orbiter Mission were both launched by which vehicle?
- A.GSLV Mk III
- B.PSLV
- C.SLV-3
- D.GSLV Mk II
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Chandrayaan-1 went up on PSLV-C11 in October 2008 and the Mars Orbiter Mission on PSLV-C25 in November 2013, both in the extended PSLV-XL configuration with six long strap-on motors.
Read the full explanation →Indian satellites are launched into orbit from which centre?
- A.Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram
- B.Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota
- C.U R Rao Satellite Centre, Bengaluru
- D.Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad
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It is India's only orbital launch site, on the east coast, so vehicles can fly out eastwards over the Bay of Bengal and take the free gain from the earth's rotation while the spent stages fall harmlessly into the sea.
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