India’s 2nd Spaceport: Here’s How Sriharikota’s Little Sister Fulfils Country’s Space Ambitions
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.
