ISRO’s Third Launch Pad | 20 Jan 2025

Source: PIB

The Union Cabinet has approved the establishment of the Third Launch Pad (TLP) at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), India’s 1^st launchport (2^nd 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 2^nd rocket launchport was laid in Kulasekarapattinam, Tamil Nadu for commercial, on-demand, and small satellite (SSLVs) launches and to avoid dogleg manoeuvre over Srilanka.