As India Gets Its Second Space Port, Rocket Startups Excited

ISRO says the new site will be ready in another two years time and will cost a little under Rs 1000 crores.

India's spacefaring efforts will receive a significant boost today as Prime Minister Narendra Modi lays the foundation stone for the country's second launch site in Kulasekharapatnam, located in the Thoothukudi district of Tamil Nadu. The small rocket community in India, both at ISRO and startups, is buzzing with excitement over the new launch pad, anticipating increased efficiency in launching small rockets.

Until now, the country had a single spaceport situated at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, from where all rockets launching satellites into space were deployed. India has conducted 95 launches from Sriharikota to date, with 80 of them deemed successful. Named the Satish Dhawan Space Center, it had humble beginnings in 1971 with the launch of an RH-125 sounding rocket. The center is currently preparing for the launch of Gaganyaan, India's human space flight effort. Positioned as one of the southernmost rocket ports globally, the Satish Dhawan Space Center enjoys a clear advantage, but it also faces a significant drawback. For rockets launching southward or in polar trajectories, the land mass of Sri Lanka poses a safety concern, preventing rocket debris from falling on foreign soil.

To mitigate this, ISRO has historically performed a special maneuver known as the 'dogleg maneuver' to bypass Sri Lanka during direct southward launches. This maneuver incurs a penalty but is manageable for larger rockets like PSLV, GSLV, and LVM-3, where ample fuel is carried. However, as India masters the launch of smaller rockets like the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV), which can carry satellites weighing up to 500 kilograms, the limitations of using Sriharikota as the preferred launch site become apparent.