BENGALURU: It has taken ISRO — which is all set for its 100th launch from its spaceport in Sriharikota, the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) on Wednesday — 46 years to achieve this milestone, but the next century of launches is expected to happen in a quicker time.
The first big rocket to lift off from Sriharikota was on August 10, 1979, when ISRO launched the Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV). Wednesday’s GSLV-F15 mission, scheduled for a 6.23 am liftoff, will deploy the NVS-02 satellite, furthering India’s indigenous Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) system.
TOI spoke exclusively about this landmark event and other developments, including the third launch pad, with Rajarajan A, Director, SDSC, on the milestone ISRO would achieve if all went as planned on Wednesday, its expansion, and more.
“It is certainly exciting to be heading the spaceport at such a momentous occasion, but the achievement is the whole of ISRO’s. Several generations of people worked towards this relentlessly,” Rajarajan said, adding that the rate at which launches happen in India will increase significantly.
The acceleration in launch frequency can be attributed to multiple factors — new stakeholders, increased participation from startups and industries, and enhanced launch infrastructure across multiple locations.
TLP & NGLV
The third launchpad (TLP), which the Union cabinet approved on January 16, he said, was essential to support India’s ambitious space vision.
“Under the PM’s direction, India planned continuous programmes for Gaganyaan, Chandrayaan, and enabling Indian astronauts to land on the Moon. This requires developing the Next Generation Launch Vehicle (NGLV), which will be 91m tall — about 2.2 times taller than the existing LVM3. The NGLV will have a capability of 20-30 tonnes to low earth orbit, crucial for space station missions and moon landing operations,” he said.
Pointing out that existing launchpads cannot handle NGLV’s requirements, including its massive thrust, new fuel servicing needs, and jet deflection characteristics, he said: “…While some modifications are being made for immediate Gaganyaan missions, a completely new pad is necessary. This third pad will primarily serve NGLV launches but will also act as a backup for LVM3 variants and future vehicles.”
New Spaceport
Aside from the TLP, which will come up within the spaceport in Sriharikota, ISRO is also building a second spaceport in Tamil Nadu’s Kulasekharapatnam — the multiple launch locations represent a strategic approach to India’s space capabilities.
“At Sriharikota, the first and second launch pads handle different vehicle types. The new spaceport will be optimised specifically for polar missions using smaller vehicles. This setup is more economical since launching polar missions from Sriharikota requires more fuel and energy,” Rajarajan said.
These facilities will support increased launch frequency as new stakeholders join through the space policy. Kulasekarapatnam will focus on assembly operations for smaller vehicles, while Sriharikota will continue handling larger missions. This infrastructure expansion aligns with ISRO’s ambitious goal to grow the Indian space economy from $8 billion to $40 billion, supporting both strategic and commercial launches.
How 100th Launch Is Calculated
From the time ISRO announced its Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) mission was its 99th, there have been debates about how ISRO arrived at that number and whether the GSLV mission is indeed the 100th.
“Our count includes all launches from designated launchpads in Sriharikota for all types of missions. They include orbital missions, research experiments, commercial launches, and the SLV and ASLV programmes. The count also encompasses experimental missions for technology development and spacecraft missions. It’s all significant launch activities from the first and second launch pads that served various development and operational purposes,” Rajarajan explained.