ISRO to Have Four Launch Pads by 2029, Says Chairman Narayanan
India plans to have four functional launch pads by 2029 as part of a significant expansion of its space operations, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman V. Narayanan has said.
Speaking at a graduation ceremony at a private university on Saturday, Mr. Narayanan outlined a roadmap that relies increasingly on partnerships with private industry to handle commercial operations, while making clear that the national space agency will not be privatised.
The plan includes a dedicated 2,000-acre complex for the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) at Kulasekarapattinam in Tuticorin district, Tamil Nadu, intended to meet global demand for satellite deployment. The facility will include integration buildings, launch pads, rail-track systems, and telemetry, tracking and command systems, he said.
Mr. Narayanan said partnering with private firms was essential to meet surging global and domestic demand for thousands of satellites. “To handle this expanding ecosystem, ISRO will handhold startups and private enterprises, transferring technological expertise to foster economic growth and generate thousands of high-tech jobs,” he said.
The expansion is part of a wider shift in India’s space programme. In 2020, the government opened the space sector to private participation, setting up the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) as a regulator and NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) as the commercial arm of ISRO. The agency has since argued that transferring mature technologies to industry allows it to concentrate on advanced missions.
On Gaganyaan, India’s first human spaceflight programme, the ISRO chief said the first uncrewed test is planned within the next two months, to be followed by two more uncrewed missions before the crewed flight. These tests, he said, will evaluate environmental control and safety systems, crew escape mechanisms and module interiors under varying pressure, temperature and humidity conditions.
Around 8,000 ground-based experiments have been conducted for the mission, he added, and four astronaut-designates are currently undergoing specialised training.
Looking further ahead, Mr. Narayanan referred to plans for Chandrayaan-5, a lunar mission to be carried out with Japan’s space agency. It will carry a 350-kg rover designed to conduct surface experiments over 100 days.
The announcements give a broad outline of ISRO’s plans for the remainder of the decade, spanning launch infrastructure, human spaceflight and lunar exploration. Detailed timelines for individual missions, and the terms of private participation in each, are expected to be set out as the programmes progress.
