WHY DOES INDIA NEED A NEW LAUNCHPORT?

• Adress the needs of private players in space sector, as mentioned in Union government’s recent policy
• To ensure that ISRO’s first launchport, the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR in Sriharikota is not overburdened
• While SHAR will be only used for launching bigger and heavy-lift-off missions, the Kulasekarapattinam launchport will be used to launch smaller payloads
• SHAR will also be available for India’s big ticket missions to the Moon, Venus, and much touted human-flight mission, the Gaganyaan
• Private players could develop space-qualified sub-systems, build satellites, and even launch vehicles using the new launchport
• It will also facilitate dedicated launch infrastructure for all the on-demand commercial launches

WHY IS THE NEW ISRO LAUNCHPORT LOCATED IN TAMIL NADU?

• Allowing a direct southward and smaller launch trajectory for the light weight SSLVs carrying less fuel, the Kulasekarapattinam facility will boost ISRO’s attempts to enhance payload capacities
• Kulasekarapattinam is geographically located several kilometers to the west of Colombo, thereby allowing a straight southward flight and simultaneously saving the already limited fuel available onboard SSLV
• Notably, both the launchports are located on Southern India, near the equator
• For a launch site close to equator the magnitude of the velocity imparted due to Earth’s rotation is about 450 m/s, which can lead to substantial increase in the payload for a given launch vehicle
• Geostationary satellites must necessarily be in the equatorial plane

WHAT IS THE STATUS OF THE NEW LAUNCHPORT?

• The Tamil Nadu government has completed the acquisition of over 2,000 acres of land in Kulasekarapattinam. This has now been handed over to ISRO
• S Somanath, chairman, ISRO, informed last week that it may take up to two years for the completion of the construction at the site
• The new facility could permit anywhere between 20 to 30 SSLV launches, annually.

WHAT ARE SSLVS AND WHAT ARE THEY USED FOR?

• SSLV is the new small satellite launch vehicle developed by ISRO to cater for the launch of small satellites
• It has a three-stage launch vehicle, having a lift-off weight of about 120 tonnes and is 34 metres in length and 2 metres in diameter
• SSLV is designed with a three-stage solid propulsion and a liquid propulsion stage, which is the terminal stage
• The SSLV missions are useful to launch small-sized satellites weighing anywhere between 10 to 500kg into the Low Earth Orbit
• Going by their size and weight, these are typically referred to as mini, micro or nano satellites. They are low on cost and intended satellite insertion into orbits takes a shorter flight time
• SSLV are best suited for commercial and on-demand launches
• Previously, satellite projects built by college students and private players involved in the space sector have benefitted from SSLV missions

HOW HAS INDIA’S SSLV JOURNEY BEEN SO FAR?

• SSLV is a relatively new development by ISRO, which is expanding its launch capabilities
• The first SSLV mission — SSLV-D1 — carrying two satellites, including EOS-02 and AzaadiSat, in August 2022, was a failure
• Despite a text-book launch, perfect lift-off and smooth transitioning into subsequent stages, the insertion of the two satellites after their separation took place into a 356 km circular orbit instead of the intended elliptical orbit
• Six months later, in its second attempt with the SSLV-D2 in February 2023, ISRO tasted success. The rocket inserted three satellites onboard into the intended 450 km circular orbit following a 15 minute flight
• Both these launches were from SHAR

WHAT ARE THE FEATURES OF SHAR?

• SHAR is situated along the east coast of Andhra Pradesh and is located 80 km off Chennai. It currently provides launch infrastructure to all ISRO missions
• It is equipped with a solid propellant processing setup, static testing, and launch vehicle integration facilities, telemetry services — tracking and command network to oversee the launch — and a mission control centre
• SHAR has two launch complexes that are routinely used to launch the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), the Geosynchronous Space Launch Vehicles (GSLV) and the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk-III, now renamed as LVM3
• The maiden launch from the First Launch Pad, built in the early 1990s, was in September 1993
• Operational since 2005, the Second Launch Pad saw its maiden launch in May 2005.