Key Facts

ISRO chairman V. Narayanan said the first rocket from the new launch complex at Kulasekarapattinam in Thoothukudi district will lift off in March or April 2027. Speaking in Chennai, he said India currently has 56 satellites of its own but needs thousands, that about 8,000 tests have been completed for Gaganyaan, which will fly uncrewed missions before a crewed flight, and that Chandrayaan-4 is planned for 2028 with work also under way on Chandrayaan-5. At a Raj Bhavan function he added that India will land Indians on the Moon and bring them back using an Indian-built rocket by 2040 and will also build its own space station. He said ISRO's annual allocation is about ₹13,000 crore, while its satellite-based advisories reach nearly 9 lakh fishers daily.

GK Context

Kulasekarapattinam, on Tamil Nadu's southeast coast, is being developed mainly for the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV); its geography permits southward launches to polar orbits without flying over land. India's existing spaceport is the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. Gaganyaan aims to place a three-member crew in a 400 km low Earth orbit for about three days and bring them back safely.