First Industry-Made PSLV Rocket by HAL and L&T
Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) and Larsen & Toubro (L&T) have jointly built India’s first industry-made end-to-end manufactured Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). In 2022, NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) had awarded a contract to HAL-L&T consortium for developing 5 PSLV-XL launch vehicles. Out of these, HAL and L&T have built the first PSLV rocket that is scheduled to launch Oceansat-3A (Earth Observation Satellite EOS-10) satellite in early 2026.
HAL and L&T did the complete manufacturing, assembly, and integration for this PSLV rocket. As per media reports, Mr. A T Ramchandani, Senior Vice President and Head at L&T Precision Engineering and Systems, who recently took over as Chairman of Indian Space Association (ISpA) shared that ISRO plans to shift PSLV manufacturing to private sector. Launch of EOS-10 was actually scheduled for the first quarter of 2025, but was delayed as some challenges arose while manufacturing certain components of the PSLV. These challenges were resolved with ISRO’s help, as per Mr. Ramchandani.
Mr. Ramchandani added that if ISRO’s schedule permits, HAL-L&T consortium expects to have two or three launches next year.
