ISRO Announces First Rocket Launch from Kulasekarapattinam

ISRO Chairman Narayanan has announced that the first rocket launch from the spaceport at Kulasekarapattinam in Tamil Nadu is scheduled for 2027. Speaking to reporters at Chennai airport on Sunday, he said the recently launched NVS-03 satellite had been placed in a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). The satellite, initially positioned at an altitude of around 38,000 kilometres, used its onboard propulsion system to reach an additional altitude of 5,500 kilometres on Saturday. He said further operations were underway to position it at the designated orbital location of 111.75 degrees east longitude. The satellite is expected to support public safety, aircraft landing and take-off operations, as well as maritime navigation.

Narayanan also said that around 8,000 tests and trials had been conducted so far as part of the Gaganyaan programme. Preparatory work for launching uncrewed spacecraft ahead of sending humans into space was progressing successfully, he added. ISRO has accelerated work on the Chandrayaan-4 and Chandrayaan-5 missions, with Chandrayaan-4 scheduled for launch in 2028. He further stated that 37 terabytes of data collected through space science studies had been made available on a website for public access.