SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 12 September 2025, Shift 3 · General Awareness · Question 16 of 100

We transcribed this text from the pictures on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; the answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 11 September 2026.

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Read the following statements marked as Assertion (A) and Reason (R). Choose the correct option: Assertion (A): The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is widely recognized as the workhorse launch vehicle of ISRO. Reason (R): PSLV is highly versatile, capable of launching a diverse range of payloads into various Earth orbits (including Earth Observation, small Geosynchronous, and Navigation satellites), and boasts an exceptionally high mission success rate across its different variants.

(a)Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A
(b)Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A
(c)A is true, but R is false
(d)A is false, but R is true

Answer

Why

Correct — A. Assertion is true. ISRO says PSLV "emerged as a reliable and versatile workhorse launch vehicle of India" and earned the title "the workhorse of ISRO" by consistently delivering satellites to low Earth orbits.

Reason is true and explains it. The versatility R describes is what ISRO cites: Sun-synchronous polar orbits, geosynchronous and geostationary orbits, and the IRNSS navigation satellites.

Why the others are wrong

(b)
Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A — R is the reason, not a side fact. ISRO ties the "workhorse" title to PSLV's reliable, versatile record of delivering satellites, which is exactly what R describes.
(c)
A is true, but R is false — R is true. PSLV has placed satellites in Sun-synchronous, geosynchronous and geostationary orbits, including the IRNSS navigation series, and ISRO itself calls it reliable and versatile.
(d)
A is false, but R is true — A is ISRO's own description. Its PSLV page says the rocket earned the title "the workhorse of ISRO", so calling the assertion false contradicts the agency.

Concept

The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle is ISRO's third-generation launcher and the first Indian launch vehicle with liquid stages. It has four stages.

It can lift about 1,750 kg to a 600 km Sun-synchronous polar orbit, and its variants include the Core Alone (CA) and XL. Multi-payload adaptors let one flight place many satellites, sometimes in different orbits.

Its record includes Chandrayaan-1 (2008) and the Mars Orbiter Spacecraft (2013).

"Exceptionally high mission success rate" is the question's wording. ISRO speaks of PSLV's "unmatched reliability", but the record is not flawless: the first flight, on 20 September 1993, was not a success, and the first successful launch came in October 1994.

Key facts

ISRO: PSLV earned its title "the workhorse of ISRO" by consistently delivering satellites to low Earth orbits, particularly the IRS series.
PSLV is India's third-generation launch vehicle and the first Indian launch vehicle equipped with liquid stages.
PSLV launched Chandrayaan-1 in 2008 and the Mars Orbiter Spacecraft in 2013.
PSLV can carry up to 1,750 kg to a Sun-synchronous polar orbit of 600 km altitude.

Study next

PSLV, GSLV and LVM3: which orbit and payload class each servesThe IRNSS (NavIC) navigation constellationSSLV, ISRO's small satellite launch vehicle

Common traps

Marking R as true but not the explanation, when R states the reliability and versatility that earned PSLV its title.
Assuming "Polar" means PSLV reaches only polar orbits — it has also placed satellites in geosynchronous and geostationary orbits.

PSLV returns at 14 Sep 2025, 12:30, GA Q.16, an Assertion–Reason item on the PSLV-C59 flight that carried ESA's Proba-3 satellites.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: General Policy — all 218 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.