KNOW WHY ROCKETS ARE LAUNCHED FROM SRIHARIKOTA !!

Whenever we hear the news of a rocket launch in India, one thing is common among them-all of them are launched from Sriharikota, AP. Have you ever imagined why rockets are launched from Sriharikota? Let's discuss this in the following article.

It was in 1969, Sriharikota, which houses the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) or Sriharikota High Altitude Range (SHAR), was chosen as a satellite launching station. Several factors were taken into consideration while selecting Sriharikota as India's ideal satellite launchpad.

1.) Equatorial Equation: Most satellites orbit the earth around the equator, and Southern India is closer to the equator than other regions of the country. So launching from here saves expensive rocket fuel.

2.) Near the Sea: Sriharikota is surrounded by the Bay of Bengal and Pulicat lake. Once a rocket ignites and lifts off, there's not much control over it even if it deviates from its set path or does not follow its trajectory. If such a situation however occurs, a destruct command is given out. This command destroys or completely disintegrates the rocket and makes it fall into the sea. Places near the sea or desert, with no habitation, are chosen as a safety measure.

3.) Stable geographical platform: One of the major criteria for the selection of launchpad is a stable platform which means soil should be strong, with the hard rock below it. This is done to withstand intense vibrations produced during the rocket launch. Sriharikota meets this criterion making it an ideal launchpad.

4.) Velocity: Since the earth rotates from west to east, in order to use the rotation as a boost and to not rather spend precious fuel against it, the rocket needs to launch eastwards. So launching a satellite in an eastward direction, as close to the equator as possible, gives the launch vehicle, or the space equivalent of the discus, extra thrust. This, in turn, saves precious rocket fuel.

While these are some of the most important criteria that need to be considered while deciding the location of the launchpad, several other smaller considerations, like the geomagnetic fields and climate, that also play a role in the decision-making.

Over the years, ISRO has had 60 tech-development launches, 87 Indian spacecraft launches, 8 student satellite launches, 2 re-entry missions, and 180 foreign satellites- from 23 countries- lift-offs from Sriharikota.

Thank you for reading the article.