Kulasekharapatnam Spaceport

Kulasekharapatnam Spaceport is an under-development spaceport in India. It is being built as ISRO's second spaceport.[1][2]

Kulasekharapatnam Spaceport
LocationKulasekharapatnam, Thoothukudi district, Tamil Nadu, India
OperatorISRO
Launch pad(s)One
Launch history
Associated
rockets		SSLV

The spaceport is being constructed over 2,350 acres. As of July 2022, the acquisition of around 1950 acres (nearly 83%) of land has been completed.[1][3]

Location

The spaceport is located at Kulasekharapatnam[4] in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.[5][6]

Background

ISRO's Sriharikota Spaceport is ideal for launching heavy rockets, but poses a major threat during the launch of smaller rockets. Sriharikota presents a threat when rockets are launched in polar orbit (circling the Earth above the poles). The island nation of Sri Lanka is in the path of a rocket traveling to the South Pole from the Sriharikota spaceport. Given the huge risk of flying over a country, India's rockets are programmed to perform a maneuver to avoid Sri Lanka's landmass. So, instead of flying in a straight line, the rocket follows a curved path. To perform this maneuver, the rocket has to burn a reasonable amount of fuel. While big rockets can perform this maneuver without much impact on the rocket's payload carrying capacity, but smaller rockets such as the SSLV consume a lot of fuel. Fuel consumption to follow a curved trajectory means the rocket's payload capacity is reduced.[7] To avoid this problem, ISRO has undertaken the construction of the Kulasekharapatnam Spaceport, from which small rockets can be launched in a straight line without the risk of crossing Sri Lanka's landmass and save fuel.[3][8]

Facilities

This port will mainly be used by ISRO for launching small payloads.[8]

References
  1. "তামিলনাড়ুতে দ্বিতীয় মহাকাশ বন্দর বানাচ্ছে ইসরো, জমি অধিগ্রহণ প্রায় শেষ" (in Bengali). www.anandabazar.com. Anandabazar. 14 July 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  2. "ISRO's Second Spaceport, for New SSLV Rocket, to Come up in Tamil Nadu". science.thewire.in. The Wire - Science. 1 December 2019. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  3. Sidharth MP (21 July 2022). "Why is India building a new spaceport in Tamil Nadu?". www.wionews.com. Wion News. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  4. T.K. Rohit (17 March 2022). "Kulasekarapattinam to be on global scientific map". www.thehindu.com. The Hindu. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  5. Surendra Singh (2 December 2019). "India to get its second spaceport, land acquisition work begins in Tamil Nadu". timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Times of India. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  6. "Govt may set up new rocket launch pad near Kulasekarapattinam in Tamil Nadu". www.business-standard.com. Business Standard. 29 November 2019. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  7. "ISRO new launchpad in Tamil Nadu to save fuel, increase payload capacity". www.indiatvnews.com. India TV News. 29 June 2020. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  8. U Tejonmayam (28 Jun 2020). "New launch pad in Tamil Nadu to help Isro save fuel". timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Times of India. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
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