Permanent Pictorial Cancellation inaugural day covers

Description: The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre -VSSC in Trivandrum, Kerala is the largest facility of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and a key player in India's space program. Established as the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) in 1962, it marked India's entry into space research. VSSC focuses on the design and expansion of satellite launch vehicles and associated technologies, with significant research in aeronautics, avionics, and composites. The launch of India's first indigenously developed rocket, RH-75, in 1967, was a landmark attainment, followed by the development of the Rohini Sounding Rockets RSR, which have been used extensively for scientific missions studying meteorology and upper atmospheric processes. 

TERLS was dedicated to the UN in 1968 and has hosted scientists from many countries for rocket-based experiments. After the death of Vikram Sarabhai, the pioneering figure of India's space program, the centre was renamed VSSC in his honour. It has since played a vital role in the development of key space programs, including the Satellite Launch Vehicle SLV-3 in the 1980s, the Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle ASLV, and the highly successful Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV in the 1990s. In 2023, VSSC further contributed to India's technological self-reliance by releasing FEAST Finite Element Analysis of Structures, an advanced analysis program designed to reduce dependence on expensive foreign software solutions. This program, compatible with highlights VSS's ongoing commitment to innovation in space technology.