India identifying site for third satellite launch pad

NEW DELHI: India is considering setting up another satellite launch pad at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, which is expected to boost the launching frequency of Indian satellites, it was stated Wednesday in the Lok Sabha.

Answering a question in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Jitendra Singh, said the third launch pad is "intended to support increased launch frequency and to support launching requirements of advanced launch vehicles." He said possible sites for the third launch pad were being identified in Sriharikota "taking into account the safety, distances and maximal utilisation of existing launch pad facilities".

India has two operational satellite launch pads located at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, which are used exclusively for launch vehicles developed by the ISRO, he said.

Jitendra Singh said India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) has launched 10 satellites of eight foreign countries - Austria, Canada, Denmark, France, Japan, Luxembourg, Singapore and Britain - during the past three years. These satellites are launched in a commercial arrangement between the countries and Antrix Corpn Ltd, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

Antrix earned 21,095,000 euros in 2012-13 as compared to 540,000 euros in 2011-12, he said.