Lake. Sullurupeta has connectivity with other parts of India by Indian Railways and is on a National Highway 16 (India) that connects it to Chennai (about south) and Kolkata. Launch history Originally known as the Sriharikota Range (SHAR) and later named after Satish Dhawan. It is India's primary orbital launch site to this day. First flight-test of 'Rohini-125', a small sounding rocket which took place on 9 October 1971 was the first rocket launch from SHAR. Since then technical, logistic and administrative infrastructure have been enhanced. Together with the northerly Balasore Rocket Launching Station, the facilities are operated under the ISRO Range Complex (IREX) headquartered at SHAR. Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV) The range became operational when three Rohini 125 sounding rockets were launched on 9 and 10 October 1971. Previously, India used Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS), at Thiruvananthapuram, on the south-western coast of India, to launch sounding rockets. The first test launch of the complete SLV-3 rocket occurred in August 1979 but it was only partially successful following a malfunction in the second-stage guidance system. SHAR facilities worked satisfactorily during the SLV-3 preparation and launch. On 18 July 1980 the SLV-3 successfully launched India's third satellite. Out of the four SLV launches from SHAR, two were successful. Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV) The ASLV orbital launcher was integrated vertically, beginning with motor and subassembly preparations in the Vehicle Integration Building (VIB) and completed on the pad within the 40 m tall Mobile Service Structure. The first ASLV launch from SHAR took place in 1987 and resulted in a failure. Eventually, out the four ASLV launches from 1987 to 1994, only one was successful. Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle launch complex was commissioned during 1990. It has a 3,450 tonne, 76.5 m high Mobile Service Tower (MST) which provides the SP-3 payload clean room. The solid propellant motors for the PSLV are processed by SHAR, which also carries out launch operations. The first launch of the PSLV took place on 20 September 1993. Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) The first launch of India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) was successfully completed on 18 April 2001. GSLV, with its own cryogenic upper stage, has enabled the launch of communications satellites of the class up to 2 tonnes. The next variant of GSLV is GSLV Mk III with its own cryogenic high-thrust engine and stage capable