Chennai, Nov 5 (PTI) ISRO chief V Narayanan on Thursday said that rocket launches from Kulasekharapatnam spaceport will commence next year.Speaking on the sidelines of inaugurating a statue of pioneering Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin at the Periyar Science and Technology Centre here, Narayanan said construction work at the new launch pad is progressing successfully.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for India’s second spaceport at Kulasekharapattinam, a coastal village in Tamil Nadu’s Tuticorin district on February 28, 2024. “The Tamil Nadu government has acquired almost 2,300 acres of land and given it to us. All work is going on successfully there. Next year, a rocket will be launched from there,” Narayanan told reporters.
The ISRO chief, joined by Russian Consul General Valerii Khodzhaev and the centre’s Executive Director Shanmugasundaram, formally unveiled the full-sized statue commemorating Gagarin’s historic April 12, 1961, spaceflight.
Narayanan expressed gratitude for Moscow’s continuous backing of India’s space endeavours, particularly the ambitious Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission. “A lot of support has come from Russia for this programme. On this occasion, I wish to thank the Consul General and the entire Russian team for their support for the Indian space programme,” he said.
He added that witnessing the monument would instil immense enthusiasm, distinct targets, and a scientific temper among the student community. Addressing queries on ISRO’s role in predicting recent severe rainfall, Narayanan clarified that the primary responsibility for weather forecasting lies with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) under the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
“Our role at ISRO is to provide whatever data they need through satellites, and we are supplying all that data,” he said, noting that accurate forecast requires extensive real-time temperature and humidity profiles from different locations.
Providing a technical update on the recently launched NVS navigation satellite, he confirmed the spacecraft was successfully pushed from an elliptical orbit into its required 36,000-kilometre circular orbit using its onboard liquid apogee motor.
“Right now, the satellite is fully healthy. Now we have to do a lot of in-orbit testing of the satellite payloads and other things, then it will be declared operational,” Narayanan said. Echoing the strong bilateral ties, Consul General Khodzhaev said the statue’s inauguration was highly symbolic as it coincided with the 65th anniversary of the first manned space flight.
“We see this also as not just paying tribute to Yuri Gagarin, but as a testament to India’s high ranking in space, as a space economy, as a space power, and also a reflection of our Russia-India cooperation in the space sector,” Khodzhaev said, adding that bilateral collaboration extends into several diversified areas, including the nuclear sector.
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