Chennai, Oct 16 (Agency) Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman and Department of Space Secretary S. Somanath on Monday called on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K.Stalin and thanked him for honouring the ISRO scientists. During the meeting, held at the State Secretariat, Mr Somanath presented him a model of the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft, India’s third Lunar Mission, that successfully soft landed on the south polar region of the moon. During the meeting, Mr Somanath lso discussed ISRO-related activities in Tamil Nadu. Later, Mr Stalin, in a post on X said “had a constructive meeting with @isro chairman Thiru. S. Somanath.”
“He gifted me with a #Chandrayaan model, a testament to Tamil Nadu’s role in #ISRO’s success”, he added. “Applause to Thiru Somanath and his team for their stellar achievements!”, Mr Stalin said. Later, in a brief chat reporters, Mr.Somanath said he came to thank Mr.Stalin for his support for ISRO and for honouring its scientists recently. “I presented him a model of Chandrayaan 3 and thanked him for supporting space programme in Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu is progressing very well in terms of support to industries, especially in manufacturing relating to space and defence sectors”. On the construction of ISRO’s second spaceport at Kulasekarapattinam in Thoothukudi district of Tamil Nadu, Mr Somanath said land acquisition process had almost been completed. He also sought support for various clearances and over connectivity, electricity, among others. The second spaceport will mainly cater to launch of Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) missions by private players and will come up in about two years at Kulasekarapattinam.
This launch pad will be used only by the private sector. “This is of use only for the private sector. There will be no ISRO rockets launched from there. The SSLV will be completely transferred to the private sector,” ISRO said. The SSLV launch vehicle is capable of launching approximately 500kg satellites in 500-km planar orbit. The key features of SSLV are low cost, with low turnaround time, flexibility in accommodating multiple satellites, launch-on-demand feasibility, and minimal launch infrastructure requirements. On the benefits of launch from Kulasekarapattinam, Mr Somanath had said that right now bigger rockets like PSLV need to take a turn towards the southward direction above Sri Lanka since the launch pad is in the east–in Sriharikota–whereas in Kulasekarapattinam, we don’t need to make rockets to make that turn as they will already be facing southward, he added.