Indian spaceport
Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station
(
TERLS
) is an Indian rocket launching site established on 21 November 1963.
[1]
[2]
Operated by the
Indian Space Research Organisation
(ISRO), it is located in
Thumba
,
Thiruvananthapuram
, which is near the southwestern tip of mainland India, very close to Earth's
magnetic equator
. It is currently used by ISRO for launching
sounding rockets
.
[1]
The first rockets were assembled in the former St Louis High School, which now houses a space museum.
[3]
The local Bishop of Trivandrum, Rev. Peter Bernard Periera, along with Vincent Victor Dereere (a
Belgian
) and district collector Madhavan Nair were instrumental in acquiring a large parcel of land measuring 600 acres from coastal community.
[4]
Periera had given away the prayer hall and bishop's room in the local church. Minister of State for External Affairs,
Lakshmi N. Menon
helped to smooth bureaucratic hurdles facing the project in
Delhi
.
[5]
H. G. S. Murthy
was appointed as the first Director of Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station.
[6]
Rockets launched from the site include
RH-300
,
M-100
,
Nike Apache
,
Arcas
,
Boosted Arcas
,
Skua
1,
Centaure
, Centaure 2A, Centaure 2B,
Nike Tomahawk
,
Dragon
1,
Judi-Dart
, Boosted Arcas 2,
Petrel
1, RH-75, Skua 2,
Sandhawk
Tomahawk, Menaka II, RH-125, M-100B, M-100A, RH-200 and RH-300 Mk II.
[2]
The site has five launchpads:
Location
[
edit
]
Thumba
's
[12]
location at 8°32'34" N and 76°51'32" E is ideal for low-altitude, upper atmosphere and ionosphere studies. Thumba is a small fishing village situated close to the
Thiruvananthapuram
airport in
Kerala
.
[13]
[14]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
"Sounding Rockets - ISRO"
.
www.isro.gov.in
. Archived from
the original
on 11 December 2019
. Retrieved
11 September
2019
.
- ^
a
b
Wade, Mark (2019).
"Thumba"
.
astronautix.com
.
Archived
from the original on 21 May 2022
. Retrieved
12 November
2023
.
- ^
Pal, Sanchari (8 November 2016).
"Transported on a Bicycle, Launched from a Church: The Amazing Story of India's First Rocket Launch"
.
The Better India
.
Archived
from the original on 19 April 2019
. Retrieved
4 September
2019
.
- ^
Joseph, Verghese (23 July 2019).
"When ISRO Aimed For the Heavens, a Tiny Church in Kerala Said Amen!"
.
Indian Catholic Matters
.
Archived
from the original on 28 October 2020
. Retrieved
26 October
2020
.
- ^
"Remembering the guiding light"
.
Deccan Chronicle
. 30 November 2019.
Archived
from the original on 28 October 2020
. Retrieved
26 October
2020
.
- ^
Pawar, Ashwini (29 July 2015).
"I'm proud that I recommended him for ISRO: EV Chitnis"
.
Archived
from the original on 9 July 2021
. Retrieved
13 July
2021
.
- ^
Wade, Mark (2019).
"Thumba Pad 1"
.
astronautix.com
.
Archived
from the original on 12 November 2023
. Retrieved
12 November
2023
.
- ^
Wade, Mark (2019).
"Thumba Pad 2"
.
astronautix.com
. Retrieved
1 March
2024
.
- ^
Wade, Mark (2019).
"Thumba Pad 3"
.
astronautix.com
. Retrieved
1 March
2024
.
- ^
Wade, Mark (2019).
"Thumba Pad 4"
.
astronautix.com
. Retrieved
1 March
2024
.
- ^
Wade, Mark (2019).
"Thumba Pad 5"
.
astronautix.com
.
Archived
from the original on 17 January 2022
. Retrieved
12 November
2023
.
- ^
Ley, Willy (June 1964).
"Anyone Else for Space?"
. For Your Information.
Galaxy Science Fiction
. pp. 110?128.
- ^
Iype, George (20 November 2003).
"Forty years in Space"
.
www.rediff.com
. India Abroad.
Archived
from the original on 17 April 2021
. Retrieved
10 May
2016
.
- ^
Ram, Arun (19 February 2015).
"Rocket science of south"
.
The Times of India
.
Archived
from the original on 12 November 2022
. Retrieved
12 November
2022
.
External links
[
edit
]
8°32′34″N
76°51′32″E
/
8.54278°N 76.85889°E
/
8.54278; 76.85889
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- Space Activities Bill
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