The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is reportedly considering building a third launchpad to meet a targeted increase in launches over the next five years.
In an interview with the Press Trust of India, ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan was quoted…
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is reportedly considering building a third launchpad to meet a targeted increase in launches over the next five years.
In an interview with the Press Trust of India, ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan was quoted saying ISRO is planning 60 missions by 2017, including 24 over the next two years for communication satellites and foreign payloads.
The launchpad could also be used to loft heavier satellites and for ISRO’s own space shuttle, which is still in the offing.
A date has yet to be announced for the construction of this new platform, but Radhakrishnan reportedly said that it would be built at ISRO’s spaceport in Sriharikota, in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.
He added that a new pad is necessary given the increasing demand in launches of foreign satellites.
Also, building an ISRO launch vehicle on the pad usually takes two months, during which no other launch can take place.
This report comes a few days after Radhakrishnan was quoted saying that ISRO could consider transferring the production of polar satellite launch vehicles and communication satellites to the commercial industry. Instead, ISRO would reportedly focus on R&D in order to develop remote sensing satellites. Radhakrishnan also added that building communication satellites and launch vehicles was a repetitive exercise.
The next ISRO commercial satellite, GSAT-14, is expected to be launched in Q4 2012.
