Kulasekarapattinam spaceport: ISRO chief meets CM Vijay; launches 2027

9 November 2026 · English Science & Technology

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Topics: Space Science · UPSC Prelims · TNPSC · SSC · Current Affairs

Current affairs of 9 November 2026 (Shanmugam IAS Academy) – explained for UPSC, TNPSC and other competitive exams

News

ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan called on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay at the Secretariat in Chennai on 6 November 2026; they met for about half an hour. The meeting came as ISRO prepares to begin launches from the Kulasekarapattinam spaceport being built near Tiruchendur in Thoothukudi district. Narayanan presented the Chief Minister with a miniature model of a satellite launch vehicle. Speaking to reporters on 5 November, he said launches would begin next year (2027) and work was progressing successfully; on 1 November, at Chennai airport, he had said the first launch could be in March–April 2027. The spaceport is meant for Small Satellite Launch Vehicles (SSLV); Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid its foundation stone on 28 February 2024.

Key facts for the exam

Background

• Why Kulasekarapattinam? It allows a direct southward launch, which raises the payload capability of small launchers (ISRO). It is India's second spaceport; the first is the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. On the foundation day, 28 Feb 2024, a Rohini RH-200 sounding rocket was launched from here to an altitude of 75 km.
• SSLV: the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle has three solid-propellant stages and a liquid Velocity Trimming Module (VTM); it carries up to 500 kg to low Earth orbit and 300 kg to sun-synchronous orbit, with low cost and quick integration. In June 2025 Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) won the IN-SPACe-run transfer of SSLV technology for ₹511 crore, becoming the first PSU to build rockets.
• V. Narayanan: a rocket-propulsion expert from Kanniyakumari district, key to cryogenic-engine development. Director of the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), Valiamala, Thiruvananthapuram, from 2018, he succeeded S. Somanath as ISRO Chairman on 14 January 2025.
• History and culture: the Dasara festival of the Mutharamman temple at Kulasekarapattinam (Kulasai Dasara) is the most famous after Mysuru's; 'Soorasamharam' is enacted on the beach on the tenth day. Nearby Kayal (Kayalpattinam) was a Pandya-era port; the Venetian traveller Marco Polo visited it in the 13th century and described its rich trade.

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Sources: ThePrint (PTI), 6 Nov 2026; DT Next, 2 Nov 2026; ISRO; ThePrint, 20 Jun 2025; DT Next, 18 Apr 2025; DT Next (Kulasai Dasara). Compiled by Shanmugam IAS Academy.

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