What’s in the news?

• The Union Cabinet has approved the establishment of the Third Launch Pad (TLP) at Satish Dhawan Space Centre of ISRO at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
• The Third Launch Pad project envisages the establishment of the launch infrastructure at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh for the Next Generation Launch Vehicles of ISRO and also to support as standby launch pad for the Second Launch Pad at Sriharikota. 
• This will also enhance the launch capacity for future Indian human spaceflight missions. 
• The Project will boost the Indian Space ecosystem by enabling higher launch frequencies and the national capacity to undertake human spaceflight & space exploration missions. 
• As on today, Indian Space Transportation Systems are completely reliant on two launch pads viz. First Launch Pad (FLP) & Second Launch Pad (SLP). 
  • FLP was realized 30 years ago for PSLV and continues to provide launch support for PSLV & SSLV. 
  • SLP was established primarily for GSLV & LVM3 and also functions as standby for PSLV. SLP has been operational for almost 20 years and has enhanced the launch capacity towards enabling some commercial missions of PSLV/LVM3 along with the national missions including the Chandrayaan-3 mission. 

https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2093358