Chandrayaan-3: Why does India always launch rockets from Sriharikota?

The launch of Chandrayaan-3 by the Indian space agency ISRO is being seen as another important step in the exploration of the lunar world. Chandrayaan-3, which is about to land on the moon after a 40-day journey, It is expected to reveal various new information about the moon. Apart from these prospects, the country has various centers related to space research, including the Satellite Manufacturing Center at Trivandrum. However, every time the question arises as to why ISRO launches satellites from the Satish Dhawan space Center at Sriharikota in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh. Sriharikota has been selected as a launch site for space exploration rockets due to five primary factors.

Distance from Equator

Sriharikota is located near the equator. The equator, represented by the black line on the world map, offers a significant advantage for rocket launches, enabling them to harness an additional velocity of 0.4 km/s. ISRO does not need to spend a single rupee for this. And the rotation of the earth in this region of 1440 km per hour gives the rocket extra speed. Like Sriharikota, the Kennedy space Center in the US and the Grove space Base in French Guiana, Europe are also located near the equator.

Relationship between the rotation of the earth and the speed of the rocket

The earth travels around the sun at a velocity of 8000 km per hour as it follows its orbit. earth rotates from west to east. If the rocket is launched eastwards in the same direction as the earth rotates, the speed of the earth's rotation will give the rocket additional speed. Because of this, all major rocket launching sites in the world are located near the equator. However, the speed of rotation of the earth is not completely uniform. It varies by region.

Adding a satellite to orbit is easy

Communication satellites orbit in geostationary orbits at or just above the equator. In order to remain in a stable orbit around the earth, objects must counteract the gravitational force exerted by the earth. Accordingly, it is much easier to put satellites into their orbits by rockets launched from near the equator. The launch of communication satellites near the equator is favored due to the beneficial effects of the earth's rotation. Conversely, if they are subjected to earth's gravity, the satellite's orbit is likely to change. After that, it takes a lot of energy for them to maintain a stable orbit. In such an environment, sometimes the satellite loses its control and falls towards the earth.

Long Beach

There is no guarantee that a rocket will travel directly into space as planned after taking off from the launch pad. Sometimes the rocket deviates from the way due to technical reasons and accidents. In such a case, the rocket breaks into pieces and falls on people, resulting in loss of life. Although the Sriharikota area lacks a significant population or residential developments, it has been chosen as a launch site for various reasons related to space exploration. If the rockets fired from this water-surrounded location had crashed, their fragments would have fallen into the sea, thereby avoiding loss of life and property. Sriharikota is located on the east coast of India near the Bay of Bengal along the thousands of kilometers long coastline of India.

Road and water transport

Launching a rocket requires a large amount of machinery and equipment. Some of them have to be imported from abroad. For this reason, rocket launch pads are established in areas that are easy to transport. Sriharikota is an ideal location for road and water transport.

A conducive environment for testing

The climate of the locations from which the rockets are launched is very important. An area with normal weather conditions where there is no heavy rain and no extreme heat is considered the best environment for rocket launching. Sriharikota has normal weather for most months of the year. This means there is no heavy rain or hot weather here. With the exception of the rainy months of October and November, Sriharikota provides an ideal environment throughout the other ten months of the year for conducting diverse scientific research using rockets.

The nature of the land

As the rockets are launched with a powerful blast of heat, the result is a strong tremor on the ground. The ground must have the strength to withstand this vibration. Due to its soil composition, which includes a mixture of rock, Sriharikota possesses a natural capacity to withstand the vibrations generated by rocket launches. Interestingly, despite this advantage, Sriharikota was not initially considered as a shortlisted launch site. The first space exploration and launch pad was established at Thumba, Kerala. Sriharikota has emerged as the premier launch site in India primarily due to its favorable proximity to the equator and its conducive climate conditions. These factors make Sriharikota the most suitable location for rocket launches in the country.

 

 

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