After searching far and wide, they found a narrow strip of land between Pulicat Lake and the Bay of Bengal. This was Sriharikota—a quiet, mostly uninhabited island on India’s east coast. At first glance, it was just a sandy, marshy place with birds, fishing boats, and no big cities nearby. But for space scientists, it was like finding their hidden treasure!
Sriharikota sits just 13° north of the equator. The Earth spins fastest at the equator, so rockets launched from here get a free push from the planet’s rotation—like a giant invisible hand giving them an extra shove.
This “speed boost” means rockets can carry more weight, travel farther, and use less fuel—about 15% savings compared to higher-latitude sites. It’s perfect for launching satellites into low-inclination orbits, especially geostationary communication satellites.
Second, Sriharikota is surrounded by the Bay of Bengal. This means rockets can be launched eastward or southward over open water, so when they drop empty fuel stages on their climb to space, they fall harmlessly into the ocean—far from cities or villages. The island’s geography also shelters it from most cyclones, reducing weather delays.
Third, in the late 1960s, Sriharikota had around 40,000 acres of empty land—ideal for building massive launch pads, tracking stations, laboratories and future expansion. Under Dr. Vikram Sarabhai’s leadership, the land was acquired in record time. Soon, the Satish Dhawan Space Centre – SHAR (SDSC-SHAR) rose here, becoming India’s primary spaceport.
Over the years, Sriharikota’s infrastructure grew into a powerhouse:
Two Launch Pads:
First Launch Pad (FLP) – handles PSLV and GSLV Mk-II missions.
Second Launch Pad (SLP) – designed for heavier GSLV Mk-III rockets, like Chandrayaan-3, and future human missions such as Gaganyaan.
Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) for vertical rocket integration.
Solid Propellant Booster Plant for on-site fuel production.
Tracking & Control Centers with radar, telemetry antennas, and mission control rooms.
Its location allows mission-specific advantages:
Polar Orbits – launched southward for Earth-observation satellites (e.g., RISAT series).
Geostationary Orbits – launched eastward, exploiting equatorial velocity for efficient insertion.
Interplanetary Missions – precise trajectory planning for missions like Mangalyaan and Chandrayaan.
From here, history has been made:
Chandrayaan-3 (GSLV Mk-III) – India’s first successful lunar landing.
Mangalyaan (PSLV) – India’s first Mars orbiter.
NISAR (upcoming, GSLV Mk-II) – a joint NASA–ISRO Earth observation mission.
Gaganyaan (upcoming, GSLV Mk-III) – India’s first crewed space mission.
And why not somewhere else? Thumba in Kerala is only for suborbital sounding rockets. Balasore in Odisha is for missile tests, not satellites. Kulasekarapattinam in Tamil Nadu is planned for small-satellite launches but isn’t ready yet.
So today, when you watch a rocket blaze into the sky from Sriharikota, you’re seeing more than a launch. You’re seeing the result of strategic geography, smart engineering and visionary leadership—a place where India’s space dreams are transformed into reality, one mission at a time.