The Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO's) Chairman S Somanath said on March 9 that Chandrayaan-4, India's fourth lunar mission, is yet to be finalised. He also said that work on the Kulasekharapatnam launch pad in Tamil Nadu's Thoothukudi district will be completed in two years, news agency ANI reported. On February 28, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for this launch pad, which will be India's second spaceport. Currently, India has only one spaceport, which is the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
The ISRO Chief also said that rockets weighing up to 500 kilograms can be launched from the Kulasekharapatnam launch pad.
What is Chandrayaan-4?
Chandrayaan-4 is a lunar sample return mission slated for launch no earlier than 2028. Somanath has said that the mission will be launched in two phases.
In November 2023, Nilesh Desai, Director, Space Applications Centre, ISRO, Ahmedabad, had said that Chandrayaan-4 aims to bring back lunar samples to the Earth so that scientists can study them.
Two launch vehicles will be used to launch five modules for the Chandrayaan-4 mission. These modules are: Transfer Module, Propulsion Module, Ascender Module, Descender Module, and Re-entry Module.
The Re-Entry Module will re-enter Earth's atmosphere and bring back lunar samples to the planet.
More about the spaceport at Kulasekharapatnam
The reason why Kulasekharapatnam has been chosen as the location to build India's second spaceport is that there are strategic advantages such as a direct southward launch trajectory for small launch vehicles.
On the day the foundation stone of the spaceport was laid, the Rohini Sounding Rocket 'RH200' was launched. The rocket reached an altitude of 75 kilometres. This was the RH200 rocket's 1928th successful mission.
According to Somanath, the spaceport will be fully commissioned within two years, following which the launch pad can be used to enhance the space activities of non-government entities (NGEs).