Wenchang Space Launch Site, on the island of Hainan, is China’s newest launch location. The site recorded its first successful launch in 2016. Location, Location. One interesting quirk of the map above is the lack of spaceports in Europe. Europe’s ambitions for space are actually launched from the Guiana Space Centre in South America.

An IAD, designed and developed by ISRO's Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), was successfully test flown in a 'Rohini' sounding rocket from Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS)..

The Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launch Station (TERLS) was established in 1962 for this purpose under UN sponsorship. In the beginning, the ancient St. Mary's Magdalene Church, graciously dedicated by the local inhabitants at the altar of science, served as the office and the laboratories.

It’s been a 51-year odyssey that began in 1969, when the space centre was set up on the coast of Andhra Pradesh by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). So why was Sriharikota chosen over other locations as India’s main satellite launch station? And what do satellites have to do with a discus throw? Here’s how it all ties in.