Union Cabinet Approves Rs 3,984 Crore for 3rd Launch Pad at Sriharikota

The launch pad is expected to be developed at a cost of Rs 3,984.86 crore in the coming four years.

Ahead of the upcoming space missions, the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Thursday approved the establishment of the Third Launch Pad (TLP) at Satish Dhawan Space Centre of ISRO at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

The launch pad is expected to be developed at a cost of Rs 3,984.86 crore in the coming four years.

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Currently, India has only two launch pads. It is not capable of supporting the new generation of heavier launch vehicles -- which will be required for all the critical missions in the near future, including the BAS by 2035 and an Indian Crewed Lunar Landing by 2040.

"The Third Launch Pad project envisions the establishment of the launch infrastructure at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh for the Next Generation Launch Vehicles (NGLV) of ISRO and also to support as a standby launch pad for the Second Launch Pad at Sriharikota," a Cabinet communique said.

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It "is highly essential so as to meet the evolving space transportation requirements for another 25-30 years", it added.

The configuration of the project will be universal to support NGLV and LMV3 with a semi-cryogenic stage along with scaled-up configurations of the NGLV.
The project "will be established with maximum industry participation," according to the communique, under the aegis of ISRO.

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Moreover, it will enhance launch capacity for future Indian human spaceflight missions.


The project will boost the Indian space ecosystem by "enabling higher launch frequencies and the national capacity to undertake human spaceflight and space exploration missions", the communique said.

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Currently, India has two launch pads at Sriharikota.

The Indian Space Transportation Systems are completely reliant on two launch pads.

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The First Launch Pad was constructed 30 years ago for the PSLVs and continues to offer launch support to the PSLVs and the SSLV.

The Second Launch Pad is mainly set up for the GSLVs and the LVM3s. It is also a standby for the PSLVs.

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SLP 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.

SLP is also getting ready to launch the human-rated LVM3 for the Gaganyaan missions.

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