The fuel cost will come down if rockets are launched from Kulasekarapattinam as they will have a straight trajectory and need not have to avoid Sri Lanka, which is being done by rockets flown from Sriharikota.
Tamil Nadu is all set to become the space hub of India with the Indian Space Research Organisation commencing construction for its second rocket port at Kulasekarapattinam in Tuticorin district.
ISRO on March 5 broke ground for the rocket port from where it will fly its small rocket-Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) with a carrying capacity of 500 kg.
Costing about Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) the Kulasekarapattinam rocket port being built on about 2,300 acres is also expected to serve the launch needs of private rocket makers .
The rocket port is expected to be ready next year.
ISRO officials said the location for the rocket port is good for rockets flying southwards as it is on the east coast and near the equator.
It will also be advantageous to put a satellite in polar orbit now being done by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).
Further, the fuel cost will come down if rockets are launched from Kulasekarapattinam as they will have a straight trajectory and need not have to avoid Sri Lanka, which is being done by rockets flown from Sriharikota.
Lower fuel volume means increased payload capacity.
Currently ISRO has a rocket port at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh with two launch pads.
Major space-faring nations have multiple rocket launch sites.
According to M Annadurai, a former director at ISRO, the trend of launching small satellites, with Indian companies making small rockets for such satellites, the presence of a rocket port can help make Tamil Nadu a global space hub.
ISRO has its propulsion centre at Mahendragiri and has been sourcing some of its needs from vendors in Tamil Nadu.
Already industries in Chennai, Coimbatore and Salem in Tamil Nadu have been supplying components for ISRO.
ISRO aside, with the government opening up the space sector rocket maker Agnikul Cosmos has come into being.
Already Larsen and Toubro and Lakshmi Machine Works Ltd manufacture components for the aerospace sector.
Tamil Nadu has the vendor base for chemicals and fabrication to make solid fuel fired rocket engines.
In addition, the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation Ltd (TIDCO) has decided to set up a space industrial park in Tuticorin and aerospace and defence parks in other parts of the state.
TIDCO has also inked an MoU with the private space sector regulator IN-SPACe to strengthen the state's commitment to space-related endeavours.
ISRO is also expanding its rocket launch infrastructure at Sriharikota by building one more launch pad, the third one at the location.
The proposed launch pad and the infrastructure will be for ISRO's heavier new rocket called Sooriya and also be a standby launch pad.
The new facility budgeted at Rs 3,984.86 crore (Rs 39.84 billion) will also enhance the launch capacity for future human spaceflight missions and is likely to be ready in four years' time.
The Indian space programme includes a space station -- the Bharatiya Antriksh Station -- by 2035 and an Indian crewed lunar landing mission by 2040.
These need a new generation of heavier launch vehicles with new propulsion systems, which cannot be met by the existing launch pads.
A third launch pad at Sriharikota is needed for India's space plans for the next 25 to 30 years.
At Sriharikota, ISRO has two launch pads. The first one is about 30 years old and used for flying PSLV and SSLV rockets.
The second launch pad is about 20 years old and used for launching PSLV, Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) and LVM3 rockets.
Venkatachari Jagannathan can be reached at venkatacharijagannathan@gmail.com
Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com
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