The Indian Space agency has announced the commencement of construction at the country's second spaceport, following a 'groundbreaking ceremony' this week. Meant to specifically launch India's smallest and newest rocket -the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle(SSLV), this facility is located in Kulasekarapattinam in Tamil Nadu's Thoothukudi district. Thus far, the spaceport in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh is India's lone gateway to space.

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The site is now ready for the commencement of the construction of the Upper Stage Assembly Facilities (UAF-I & UAF-II) for the preparation of the second and third stages of the 3-staged SSLV vehicle along with a Launch Service Building (LSB), ISRO said. 

The launch complex planned at Kulasekarapattinam is primarily to address the polar launches(launching towards the south pole) of the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) which is capable of launching small satellites weighing up to 500kg. The SSLV rocket has had three flight so far and has completed what ISRO terms the 'development phase'. Henceforth, the vehicle will perform operational missions. 

Why does India need a second spaceport?

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While the existing spaceport at Sriharikota is ideal for launching heavier rockets towards the east(equatorial orbits), a major challenge crops up when launching ISRO's Small Satellite Launch Vehicle and similar rockets being built by startups. When a rocket travels towards the South Pole from Sriharikota, the rocket would have to overfly the island nation of Sri Lanka. Given the immense risk of overflying a country, India's rockets are programmed to perform a manoeuvre to avoid the Lankan landmass. So, instead of flying in a straight line, the rocket follows a curved path and takes a turn.

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To perform this turn manoeuvre, the rocket burns a considerable amount of fuel. While larger rockets can perform this manoeuvre without much impact on the rocket's payload carrying capacity, smaller rockets such as SSLV would lose a lot of fuel doing so. Losing fuel for the turn manoeuvre would mean that the rocket's payload carrying capacity is reduced, thereby affecting its cost efficiency. Which is why India had been looking for a location from where the smaller rockets could be launched in a straight line, without the risk of overflying Lanka. 

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Situated in Tamil Nadu's southern region, Kulasekarapattinam's unique location helps SSLV-class rockets save on fuel and fly a straight approach towards the south pole. Given that smaller rockets are easier to build, assemble, and launch with less time in comparison to their larger counterparts, it is important for India to have a dedicated spaceport for such smaller rockets.