Rapid Fire
ISRO’s Third Launch Pad
- 20 Jan 2025
- 2 min read
The Union Cabinet has approved the establishment of the Third Launch Pad (TLP) at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), India’s 1st launchport (2nd launchport - Kulasekarapattinam), in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
- The third launch pad will have the capacity to handle spacecraft weighing up to 30,000 tonnes in low Earth orbit.
- Designed to support NGLV, LVM3 vehicles with semi cryogenic stages, and scaled-up NGLV configurations.
- Currently, ISRO uses two launch pads i.e., the First Launch Pad (FLP) and the Second Launch Pad (SLP).
- FLP was implemented for the PSLV and continues to support launches for both PSLV and SSLV.
- SLP was primarily set up for GSLV and LVM3, while also serving as a backup for PSLV.
- It successfully launched the Chandrayaan-3 mission and is preparing for the upcoming Gaganyaan missions.
- Future Vision: India’s vision includes a Crewed Lunar Landing by 2040 and the Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS) by 2035, necessitating heavier launch vehicles that cannot be accommodated by existing pads.
- In 2024, foundation stone for ISRO’s 2nd rocket launchport was laid in Kulasekarapattinam, Tamil Nadu for commercial, on-demand, and small satellite (SSLVs) launches and to avoid dogleg manoeuvre over Srilanka.
Read More: New Rocket Launchport in Tamilnadu
