Why is ISRO building a second rocket launchport in Tamil Nadu’s Kulasekarapattinam?

Subject: Science and tech

Section: Space tech

Context:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the second rocket launchport of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) at Kulasekarapattinam on February 28.

More on news:

Situated at a geographically advantageous location in coastal Tamil Nadu’s Thoothukudi district, the facility costs Rs 986 crore.
It will be extensively and exclusively used for commercial, on-demand, and small satellite launches in the future.

Why does India need a new launchport?

With the Union government’s recent policy announcing the opening of the space sector to private players, a sharp rise in the number of commercial launches is certain.
To ensure that ISRO’s first launchport, the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR in Sriharikota, is not overburdened with a high number of launches, the space agency has decided to build another facility.
While SHAR will be only used for launching bigger and heavy-lift-off missions, the Kulasekarapattinam launchport will be used to launch smaller payloads.
SHAR will also be available for India’s big ticket missions to the Moon, Venus, and much touted human-flight mission, the Gaganyaan.
Private players could develop space-qualified sub-systems, build satellites, and even launch vehicles using the new launchport.
It will also facilitate dedicated launch infrastructure for all the on-demand commercial launches.

Why is the new ISRO launchport located in Tamil Nadu?

Geographically, scientifically, and strategically, the Kulasekarapattinam launchport provides a natural advantage to ISRO’s future launches pertaining to the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV).
Allowing a direct southward and smaller launch trajectory for the light weight SSLVs carrying less fuel, the Kulasekarapattinam facility will boost ISRO’s attempts to enhance payload capacities.
Currently, the trajectory followed by all launches from SHAR are longer as they follow a path which requires the vehicle to skirt eastwards around Sri Lanka before taking the actual southward flight.
This consumes additional fuel.
However, the same would not be required for future launches from Kulasekarapattinam, which is geographically located several kilometers to the west of Colombo, thereby allowing a straight southward flight and simultaneously saving the already limited fuel available onboard SSLV.
Notably, both the launch ports are located in Southern India, near the equator.
For a launch site close to equator the magnitude of the velocity imparted due to Earth’s rotation is about 450 m/s, which can lead to substantial increase in the payload for a given launch vehicle.
Geostationary satellites must necessarily be in the equatorial plane.
So, for such satellites, the closer the launch site is to the equator the better it is.

What are SSLVs and what are they used for?

SSLV is the new small satellite launch vehicle developed by ISRO to cater for the launch of small satellites.
It has a three-stage launch vehicle, having a lift-off weight of about 120 tonnes and is 34 meters in length and 2 meters in diameter.
SSLV is designed with a three-stage solid propulsion and a liquid propulsion stage, which is the terminal stage.
The SSLV missions are useful to launch small-sized satellites weighing anywhere between 10 to 500kg into the Low Earth Orbit.
Going by their size and weight, these are typically referred to as mini, micro or nano satellites.
They are low on cost and intended satellite insertion into orbits takes a shorter flight time.
SSLV are best suited for commercial and on-demand launches.
Previously, satellite projects built by college students and private players involved in the space sector have benefitted from SSLV missions.

How has India’s SSLV journey been so far?

SSLV is a relatively new development by ISRO, which is expanding its launch capabilities.
The first SSLV mission SSLV-D1 i.e. carrying two satellites, including EOS-02 and AzaadiSat, in August 2022, was a failure.
Despite a text-book launch, perfect lift-off and smooth transitioning into subsequent stages, the insertion of the two satellites after their separation took place into a 356 km circular orbit instead of the intended elliptical orbit.
Six months later, in its second attempt with the SSLV-D2 in February 2023, ISRO tasted success. The rocket inserted three satellites onboard into the intended 450 km circular orbit following a 15 minute flight.
Both these launches were from SHAR.

What are the features of SHAR?

SHAR is situated along the east coast of Andhra Pradesh and is located 80 km off Chennai.
It currently provides launch infrastructure to all ISRO missions.
It is equipped with a solid propellant processing setup, static testing, and launch vehicle integration facilities, telemetry services — tracking and command network to oversee the launch — and a mission control center.
SHAR has two launch complexes that are routinely used to launch the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), the Geosynchronous Space Launch Vehicles (GSLV) and the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk-III, now renamed as LVM3.
The maiden launch from the First Launch Pad, built in the early 1990s, was in September 1993. Operational since 2005, the Second Launch Pad saw its maiden launch in May 2005.