ISRO chief V Narayanan announces four launch pads by 2029, Kulasekarapattinam SSLV complex and Gaganyaan test plan

Key facts

• ISRO Chairman V Narayanan said India will have four functional launch pads by 2029, supported by private industry partnerships for commercial operations.
• ISRO is developing a 2,000-acre Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) complex at Kulasekarapattinam in Tuticorin district, Tamil Nadu, with integration buildings, launch pads, rail-track systems, and telemetry, tracking and command systems.
• Narayanan clarified that ISRO will not be privatised, but will partner with private firms and startups to meet global and domestic demand for thousands of satellites.
• ISRO plans to conduct its first uncrewed Gaganyaan test within the next two months, followed by two more uncrewed tests before the crewed mission.
• About 8,000 ground-based experiments have been completed for Gaganyaan, and four astronaut-designates are undergoing specialised training.
• ISRO plans Chandrayaan-5, a collaborative lunar mission with Japan's space agency featuring a 350-kg rover designed to conduct 100 days of surface experiments.