Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid the foundation stone for India’s second spaceport at Kulasekarapattinam. It will serve as a launch pad for smaller satellites. And Sriharikota will be used for bigger and heavy lunches.

India’s 2nd Spaceport: In past few years, India’s success in the space sector has transformed the perception of it, and the country has now emerged as the world’s launchpad for space projects. With the historic success of the Chandrayaan-3 and Aditya-L1 missions, India is now eyeing on Gaganyaan mission in which ISRO is planning to send Indian astronauts to low-earth orbit for a short duration, onboard an Indian launch vehicle. The Indian space agency is also expanding its commercial launches in which it will send satellites and payloads of other countries through its trustworthy PSLV and GSLV launch vehicles. Now, ISRO is set to build another launchpad near Tamil Nadu’s southern tip. Earlier this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid the foundation stone for the country’s second spaceport at Kulasekarapattinam. This spaceport meant to serve as a launch pad for smaller satellites.

India’s 2nd Spaceport

According to ISRO Chairman S Somanath, the new spaceport will have 24 launches every year. It will also boast mobile launch facilities.
“Land acquisition has been completed and the Tamil Nadu government has transferred the land to ISRO. So we have to start construction now. The construction will last for two years,” PTI quoted Somanath as saying.

Indian Space Association (ISpA) Director General Lt Gen (Retd) AK Bhatt said the new spaceport will play a crucial role in the coming years because of the increasing launch frequency.

“This facility will play an instrumental role in accommodating the increasing launch frequency of both ISRO and the growing private space industry in the coming years,” said Indian Space Association (ISpA) Director General Lt Gen (Retd) AK Bhatt.
The new spaceport will spread over 2,292 acres and is expected to cost around Rs 986 crore.

Will Be Ready In 2 Years

S Somanath said the new spaceport will be ready by 2026. Notably, there are two launchpads at Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. Likewise, Kulasekarapattinam will begin with one launchpad, and in the coming years it will also have rocket integration facilities, checkout computers and a mobile launch structure.

Locational Advantage

The location of the new launchpad will play a crucial role as Rockets launched from Kulasekarapattinam can save fuel by avoiding special flight paths. The PSLV rockets that launched from Sriharikota have to perform a ‘dogleg manoeuvre’, (a sharp turn to change the direction from a straight flight path). This is done to avoid flying over Sri Lanka to spare it the risk of falling space debris. With the new launchpad, the spacecraft can go directly to space without performing a ‘dogleg manoeuvre’, which means a greater payload ratio in less fuel consumption.

Big Earnings From Small Satellites

Kulasekarapattinam will be used by ISRO to launch nano- and microsatellites, which are becoming the preferred tools due to their affordability. The global small satellite market is growing rapidly and is projected to touch $13.7 billion by 2030. ISRO has so far launched 432 satellites for 34 countries, that includes micro- and nanosatellites. Now, the Indian space agency is focusing to enter into the global small satellite market with its SSLV rocket.

The new launchpad can do two launches a month, fulfilling the global demand for launching small satellites.