India builds its first indigenous Vikram 32-bit microprocessor

India has built its first indigenous space-grade computer chip for rockets, called Vikram 3201. It is the country’s first 32-bit microprocessor designed to survive the extreme conditions of space launches. The chip was designed by the Indian Space Research Organisation's (Isro) Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre and made at the government’s Semi-Conductor Laboratory (SCL) in Chandigarh.

While India hails its first made-in-India space chip, global peers are already building 64-bit processors, some based on the new RISC-V architecture, and even chips with built-in AI support. and even chips with built-in AI support. These chips are aimed at data-intensive payloads such as Earth observation satellites, astronomy instruments, and autonomous spacecraft.

The chip has already been tested on PSLV-C60’s POEM-4 platform and was formally handed over for production use in March 2025 before being showcased at Semicon India 2025.

How is it different from consumer chips?

Unlike consumer chips, space processors prioritize radiation tolerance, deterministic behaviour and certifiability over raw speed. Vikram 3201, built on a 180 nm CMOS process, falls in line with international practice where slightly older nodes are preferred for their radiation resilience. It supports floating-point arithmetic and is backed by an Ada programming toolchain, with a C compiler under development.

The chip is intended mainly for launch-vehicle navigation, guidance and control, but its heritage could extend to satellites and planetary missions.

Before Vikram 3201, Isro’s had developed Vikram 1601, a 16-bit part, which was in use since 2009.