- President Pratibha Patil visited the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC SHAR) at Sriharikota here on Monday and dedicated the new Mission Control Centre to the nation.
- She also witnessed a simulation of the launch of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) at the Mission Control Centre and various exhibits of the advances in space science and technology.
- The new centre has been developed with state-of-the-art facilities to meet the requirements for the launch of the Geo-Synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark-III and future missions of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)
- Ms. Patil presented ISRO awards for 2008-09, including the Lifetime Achievement Award to the former ISRO chairman, K. Kasturirangan.
- The First Launch Pad, where the integration of the soon-to-be-launched of PSLV-C19 was in progress.
