ISRO’s novel initiative

Chennai : The Indian Space Research Organization (Isro) on Monday unveiled the first privately designed and operated rocket launchpad and mission control centre in India.The facility, unveiled by S Somanath, chairman of Isro and secretary Department of Space (DoS), is designed and will be fully operated by homegrown space startup Agnikul Cosmos, Isro confirmed in a statement.The launchpad and mission control centre, located in Isro’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, is expected to host its first rocket launch in the coming weeks by Agnikul itself.“The first exclusive launch pad for a private launch vehicle has come up at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC). So now India can travel to space from one more space platform. Thanks to Agnikul,” Somanath said.