Cabinet nod for 3rd launch pad at Sriharikota as India eyes landing astronaut on Moon

The third launch pad at Sriharikota's Satish Dhawan Space Centre is targeted to be established within a duration of four years. (Courtesy: Reuters photo)

The government on January 16 approved setting up of a third launch pad at Sriharikota to send heavier spacecraft in orbit as it aims to build a space station, carry out human spaceflight Gaganyaan and land an astronaut on the Moon.

To be constructed at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at a cost of Rs 3,985 crore, the new launch pad will be capable of putting 30,000 tonne spacecraft in low earth orbit. Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the Union Cabinet, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the setting up of the third launch pad in the next four years with maximum participation from the industry.

The announcement comes on the day when Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) completed its historic docking experiment. With the successful docking of satellites, India has become the fourth country after the US, Russia and China to accomplish the feat.

The first launch pad at Sriharikota was built 30 years ago for PSLV missions and continues to provide launch support also for the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV). The second was established primarily for GSLV and LVM3 but also functions as standby for PSLV.

The second launch pad has been operational for almost 20 years and has enhanced the launch capacity towards enabling some commercial missions of PSLV/LVM3 along with the national missions including the Chandrayaan-3 mission. It is also getting ready to launch the human rated LVM3 for the Gaganyaan missions.

The expanded vision of the Indian Space Programme, the government has announced plans to establish the Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS) by 2035 and achieve an Indian crewed lunar landing by 2040. "These ambitions require a new generation of heavier launch vehicles with new propulsion systems, which cannot be met by the existing launch pads," an official statement said.

-With agency inputs