Spaceport of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) located on Srharikota, a remote and largely uninhabited island near the equator used for launching multistage rockets and satellite launch vehicles. Originally known as the Sriharikota High Altitude Range (SHAR), it became operational on 9 October 1971 with the successful lift-off of a Rohini (RH)-125 sounding rocket. A decade later facilities were set up to support the first generation of ISRO satellite launch vehicle missions to low Earth orbit, Sun-synchronous orbit, and geosynchronous orbit, as well as for controlled re-entry and deep space missions. The facility, renamed in 2002 in honour of Satish Dhawan, has two launch pads allowing multiple launches per year. The historic planetary missions (Chandrayaan-1 and Mangalyaan) launched from this site in October 2008 and November 2013, respectively.