India is preparing to hand the keys of a national spaceport to a private company for the first time.
The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) has floated an Expression of Interest (EoI) inviting eligible Indian firms to operate and maintain the Small Satellite Launch Complex (SLC) being built at Kulasekarapattinam in Tamil Nadu's Thoothukudi district.
The facility spans roughly 2,233 acres along the coast and is the country's second spaceport, developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) at an estimated cost of ₹986 crore.
The facility, whose foundation stone was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in February 2024, is being purpose-built for the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) and other small commercial launchers carrying payloads of up to about 500 kg.
Its coastal location on the Gulf of Mannar allows rockets to fly south over the ocean, giving efficient access to polar and sun-synchronous orbits without overflying populated land, an advantage prized by the Earth-observation and remote-sensing missions that dominate the small-satellite market.
