Cabinet approves third launchpad worth ₹3,985 crore for ISRO at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh

The new launch pad will enhance ISRO’s capacity for future human spaceflight missions and is expected to be completed within four years.

Published on: Jan 16, 2025, 16:02:13 IST

By HT News Desk

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The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved the establishment of a third launch pad at Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)'s Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota, with an investment of ₹3,985 crore, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced.

The project will involve extensive industry participation, leveraging ISRO’s experience in establishing previous launch pads. (File) (ISRO/X)

Speaking from Delhi, Ashwini Vaishnaw said, according to ANI, “With a cost of ₹3985 Crores, the third launch pad has been sanctioned by the cabinet today. This will prove to be an important milestone for the country in space infrastructure. If you look at the first and second launch pads, this has much greater capacity than those two.”

All you need to know about the new launch pad

According to a government statement quoted by PTI, the project aims to establish launch infrastructure at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, for ISRO's Next Generation Launch Vehicles (NGLV) and also serve as a backup for the second launch pad.
The government's statement further said the new launch pad will increase ISRO’s capacity for future Indian human spaceflight missions and is expected to be completed within four years.
The third launch pad will be designed to support not only Next Generation Launch Vehicle (NGLV) but also Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM3) vehicles with a semi-cryogenic stage, as well as scaled-up configurations of NGLV, ensuring maximum adaptability.
The project will involve extensive industry participation, leveraging ISRO’s experience in establishing previous launch pads and maximising the use of existing launch complex facilities.

ISRO's SpaDeX Mission

On Thursday, ISRO successfully carried out the docking of satellites as part of its Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX), and the agency confirmed that control of the two satellites as a single object post-docking was successful.

“India docked its name in space history! Good Morning India ISRO's SpaDeX mission accomplishes historic docking success. Proud to witness this moment!” ISRO said in a post on X.

With this achievement, India became the fourth country, after the US, Russia, and China, to successfully perform satellite docking.

According to ISRO, the SpaDeX mission is a cost-effective technology demonstration aimed at showcasing in-space docking using two small spacecraft launched by PSLV. Docking technology is crucial for missions requiring multiple rocket launches to achieve shared objectives in space.

This successful experiment is a key step for ISRO's future missions, including the Bharatiya Antariksh Station and the planned moon landing with an astronaut.

Earlier, on January 12, ISRO conducted a trial where the two spacecraft were brought within three metres of each other before being moved to a safe distance.

ISRO launched the SpaDeX mission on December 30, 2024. The PSLV C60 rocket carrying two small satellites, SDX01 (Chaser) and SDX02 (Target), along with 24 payloads, lifted off from Sriharikota’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre. About 15 minutes after liftoff, the two 220 kg spacecraft were placed into a 475-km circular orbit as planned.

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HT News Desk
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