The Gaganyaan mission will be launched by which vehicle?

The correct answer is C, the human-rated LVM3. Gaganyaan will fly on the LVM3, the heaviest Indian launch vehicle, modified and certified for carrying human beings and then written as HLVM3. It is a three stage vehicle with two solid strap-on boosters, a liquid core stage and a cryogenic upper stage, and human rating adds wider structural margins, redundant systems and extra checks.

Option A, the PSLV-XL, is the workhorse used for remote sensing satellites and for Chandrayaan-1 and Mangalyaan, but it cannot lift a crewed spacecraft. Option B, the GSLV Mk II, carries communication satellites of about two tonnes to geosynchronous transfer orbit and is too small for this payload. Option D, the SSLV, is the small satellite launch vehicle meant for payloads of a few hundred kilograms. The LVM3 was earlier called the GSLV Mk III, which is why both names appear in question papers.