It was developed to allow India to launch its Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellites into Sun-synchronous orbits, a service that was, until the advent of the PSLV in 1993, only commercially available from Russia.

[19] Studies by the PSLV Planning group under S Srinivasan to develop a vehicle capable of delivering a 600 kg payload to a 550 km sun-synchronous orbit from SHAR began in 1978.

[22][23][24][25] By 1981, confidence grew in remote sensing spacecraft development with the launch of Bhaskara-1, and the PSLV project objectives were upgraded to have the vehicle deliver a 1000 kg payload into a 900 km SSO.

As technology transfer of Viking rocket engine firmed up, a new lighter configuration with the inclusion of a liquid powered stage was selected.

The solid propellant motors are processed at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SHAR) at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, which also carries out launch operations.

The aerodynamic characterization research was conducted at the National Aerospace Laboratories' 1.2m Trisonic Wind Tunnel Facility.

[33] In June 2018, the Union Cabinet approved ₹6,131 crore (equivalent to ₹72 billion or US$830 million in 2023) for 30 operational flights of the PSLV scheduled to take place between 2019 and 2024.

[35] On 16 August 2019, NewSpace India Limited issued an invitation to tender for manufacturing PSLV entirely by private industries.

The 2.8 m (9 ft 2 in) diameter motor case is made of maraging steel and has an empty mass of 30,200 kg (66,600 lb).

The solution is stored in two cylindrical aluminium tanks strapped to the core solid rocket motor and pressurised with nitrogen.

Underneath these two SITVC tanks, Roll Control Thruster (RCT) modules with small bi-propellant (MMH/MON) liquid engine are also attached.

[9][10] The fourth stage is powered by regeneratively cooled twin engines,[47] burning monomethylhydrazine (MMH) and mixed oxides of nitrogen (MON).

Each pressure fed engine generates 7.4 kN (1,700 lbf) thrust and is gimbaled (±3°) to provide pitch, yaw and roll control during powered flight.

[50][51] On PSLV-C29/TeLEOS-1 mission, the fourth stage demonstrated re-ignition capability for the first time which was used in many subsequent flights to deploy payloads in multiple orbits on a single campaign.

[52] As a space debris mitigation measure, PSLV fourth stage gets passivated by venting pressurant and propellant vapour after achieving main mission objectives.

[56] ISRO successfully completed 665-second hot test of 3D printed PS4 engine, produced by Wipro 3D through selective laser melting.

PS4 Orbital Platform (PS4-OP) will have its own power supply, telemetry package, data storage and attitude control for hosted payloads.

[68][69] On PSLV-C45 campaign, the fourth stage had its own power generation capability as it was augmented with an array of fixed solar cells around PS4 propellant tank.

[74][75][76][77] The Reusable Launch Vehicle Technology Demonstration program is an prototype spaceplane project currently being processed by ISRO.

The standard or "Generic" version of the PSLV, PSLV-G had four stages using solid and liquid propulsion systems alternately and six strap-on motors (PSOM or S9) with 9 tonne propellant loading.

The CA model does not include the six strap-on boosters used by the PSLV standard variant but two SITVC tanks with Roll Control Thruster modules are still attached to the side of the first stage with addition of two cylindrical aerodynamic stabilizers.

[88] PSLV-XL is the upgraded version of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle in its standard configuration boosted by more powerful, stretched strap-on boosters with 12 tonne propellant load.

The total lift-off mass of PSLV-3S was expected to be 175 tonnes with capacity to place 500 kg in 550 km low Earth orbit.