ISRO chairman V Narayanan says India will have four launch pads by 2029, a build-out meant to lift the agency's annual launch count sharply.

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• ISRO chairman V Narayanan has said the space agency expects to have four launch pads operating by 2029.
• ISRO currently launches from two pads at Sriharikota: the first began operating in 1993 and the second was commissioned in December 2003.
• A third launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre is due for commissioning by March 2029, with civil works targeted for completion by May 2028.
• The Union Cabinet cleared the third pad at a cost of Rs 3,984.86 crore, with maximum participation from industry.
• It is designed to support the Next Generation Launch Vehicle and the LVM3 fitted with a semi-cryogenic stage, and to act as a backup pad.
• A second launch site at Kulasekarapattinam in Tamil Nadu is under development, intended mainly for smaller rockets such as the SSLV and startup-built vehicles.
• Narayanan has said India is working towards about 50 launches a year by 2029, which the additional pads are meant to make possible.
• Smaller launch pads run by private companies are being encouraged to handle small-rocket missions and add to launch frequency.
• Narayanan has stressed that ISRO is not being privatised, even as mature PSLV activities are transferred to industry.
• The third pad will also serve human spaceflight plans, including the Bharatiya Antariksh Station by 2035 and a crewed lunar landing by 2040.