India will have four functional launch pads by 2029, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman V. Narayanan has said, setting out a launch-infrastructure expansion aimed at meeting fast-growing demand for satellite launches at home and abroad. He outlined the roadmap while speaking at a graduation ceremony at the Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research in Porur, near Chennai, on Saturday, October 24, 2026.
At the centre of the plan is a dedicated Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) complex at Kulasekarapattinam in Tamil Nadu’s Thoothukudi district. The complex, spread over about 2,000 acres, is being developed specifically for small-satellite launches and to meet global demand for satellite deployment.
Key Takeaways
- ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan says India will have four functional launch pads by 2029.
- A dedicated 2,000-acre SSLV complex at Kulasekarapattinam, Tamil Nadu, will anchor the small-satellite push.
- ISRO will not be privatised, but private partnerships are central to handling thousands of planned satellite launches.
What the Kulasekarapattinam complex will include
The upcoming Kulasekarapattinam spaceport will feature integration buildings, launch pads, rail-track systems for moving vehicles, and telemetry, tracking and command systems, Narayanan said. Those facilities are designed to support a steady flow of small-satellite missions rather than one-off launches, with the infrastructure needed to prepare, check and launch vehicles from a single coastal site.
Small satellites are the fastest-growing part of the launch market, used for communications, Earth observation, research and commercial services. A dedicated SSLV site gives India a second coastal launch geography alongside its established Sriharikota range, easing pressure on existing pads as launch frequency rises.
Private firms, not privatisation
Narayanan was clear on one point that often causes confusion: ISRO itself will not be privatised. Instead, partnering with private companies and startups is essential, he said, because the scale of demand — thousands of satellites — is beyond what a single public agency can handle alone.
He said ISRO will handhold startups and private enterprises, transferring technological expertise to help them build capability and grow. That support, he said, should foster economic growth and generate thousands of high-tech jobs, as private firms take on more commercial operations while ISRO focuses on its core missions and technology development.
The same private-sector momentum is visible across technology more broadly, where large private ventures are scaling fast and reshaping how advanced systems are built and funded, as seen in recent major private technology expansion. For India’s space programme, the model is partnership: public leadership and standards, with private capacity doing much of the commercial heavy lifting.
Gaganyaan: uncrewed tests first
Narayanan also gave an update on Gaganyaan, India’s human spaceflight programme. ISRO plans to conduct the first uncrewed test within the next two months, followed by two subsequent uncrewed tests before any crewed mission, he said.
Those tests will evaluate environmental control, safety systems, crew escape mechanisms and module interiors under varying pressure, temperature and humidity conditions. He said ISRO has successfully conducted approximately 8,000 ground-based experiments for the mission, and that four astronaut-designates are currently undergoing specialised training.
- Four functional launch pads by 2029, announced by ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan on October 24, 2026.
- 2,000-acre SSLV complex at Kulasekarapattinam, Thoothukudi district, Tamil Nadu.
- Planned facilities include integration buildings, launch pads, rail-track systems, and telemetry, tracking and command systems.
- Gaganyaan: first uncrewed test within two months, then two more uncrewed tests before a crewed flight.
- About 8,000 ground-based experiments completed; four astronaut-designates in training.
What is not yet detailed
One detail to watch is the full breakdown of the four pads. Reporting on Narayanan’s remarks noted that he did not specify the locations or timelines for every pad beyond the Kulasekarapattinam complex, so the exact sequencing of the remaining capacity will become clearer as ISRO publishes further updates. That gap does not change the headline commitment — four functional pads by 2029 — but it means readers should treat any unofficial pad-by-pad timetable with caution until ISRO confirms it.
India will expand its space operations significantly with four functional launch pads by 2029, supported by an increasing reliance on private industry partnerships to handle commercial operations, Narayanan said.
India will expand its space operations significantly with four functional launch pads by 2029, supported by an increasing reliance on private industry partnerships to handle commercial operations, Narayanan said.
That sentence captures the strategy: more pads, more private partners, and a launch system built for volume. If the Kulasekarapattinam complex and the wider pad programme stay on schedule, India will enter the end of the decade able to launch more often, for more customers, without waiting on a single range.
What to Watch Next
Watch for ISRO’s next updates on the Kulasekarapattinam complex and on the Gaganyaan uncrewed test planned within the next two months. Watch too for announcements from private partners on commercial launch work, and for any confirmed pad-by-pad timetable that fills in the details Narayanan has not yet specified. For now, the confirmed steps are the ones already stated: four functional launch pads by 2029, a dedicated SSLV complex at Kulasekarapattinam, private partnerships without privatisation, and uncrewed Gaganyaan tests before any crewed flight.