ISRO Rockets

This a collection of souvenir objects that capture ISRO’s journey of the development of its rockets from SLV to the RLV-TD. From launching Sounding Rockets to launching of spacecrafts and satellites ISRO has come a long way with its workhorse rocket technologies of the PSLV and GSLV.

India's experience in rocketry began in ancient times when fireworks were first used in the country which had an extensive two-way exchange of ideas and goods with India, connected by the Silk Road. The British colonial wars of 1792 and 1799 saw the use of Indian rocket fire against the British army. Hyder Ali and his son Tipu Sultan, the rulers of the Kingdom of Mysore in India, developed the first iron-cased rockets in 1792 and then used it against the British in the Anglo-Mysore Wars. Dr. Vikram Sarabhai - the founding father of the Indian space program, set up the first rocket launching station in India at Thumba near Thiruvananthapuram on the coast of the Arabian Sea, primarily because of its proximity to the equator.  From this station in 1963 Indians watched their first rocket head for space.