India’s first private rocket Vikram-S built by Skyroot Aerospace lifts off from Sriharikota

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

New
Delhi,
Nov
18:
In
one
of
the
historic
moments
for
India’s
space
program,
ISRO
launched
country’s
first
privately
developed
rocket,
Vikram-S
on
a
sub-orbital
mission
with
three
payloads.

Pawan
Kumar
Goenka,
Chairman
of
INSPACe
said,”I
am
happy
to
announce
the
successful
completion
of
Mission
Prarambh
–
the
beginning
of
Skyroot
Aerospace.”

The
maiden
mission
was
developed
by
four-year-old
startup
Skyroot
Aerospace,
named
‘Prarambh’
(the
beginning),
that
will
carry
payloads
of
two
Indian
and
one
foreign
customer
and
is
set
for
launch
from
the
Indian
Space
Research
Organisation
(ISRO)’s
launchpad
at
Sriharikota.

The
6-metre
tall
Vikram-S
will
soar
to
an
altitude
of
around
81
km
after
its
launch
from
Satish
Dhawan
Space
Centre.
Spacekidz,
a
Chennai-based
aerospace
startup,
will
fly
‘Fun-Sat’,
a
2.5
kg
payload
developed
by
students
from
India,
the
US,
Singapore,
and
Indonesia
on
the
sub-orbital
flight
onboard
Vikram-S.
The
second
one
is
Andhra
Pradesh’s
N-SpaceTech.
Armenian
BazoomQ
Space
Research
Lab
is
the
third
and
only
foreign
customer
in
the
mission.

With
the
big
day
looming
large,
here
it
is!
Catch
a
glimpse
of
Vikram-S
rocket
integrated
to
the
launcher.
You
can
watch
the
action
unfolding
live
on
our
YouTube
link

https://t.co/p2DOuRFiIA.

#Prarambh
#OpeningSpaceForAll
pic.twitter.com/kjmkHZuV8c

—
Skyroot
Aerospace
(@SkyrootA)

November
17,
2022

This
maiden
mission
which
was
developed
in
a
record
time
of
two
years
will
pave
the
way
for
the
private
sector
in
the
Indian
space
industry
which
enjoyed
the
monopoly
of
ISRO
for
decades.

New
era
for
the
space
sector
in
India

If
the
mission
is
successful,
Skyroot
is
set
to
become
the
first
private
space
company
in
India
to
launch
a
rocket
into
space,
heralding
a
new
era
for
the
space
sector
which
was
opened
up
in
2020
to
facilitate
private
sector
participation.

In
September
2020,
Skyroot
unveiled
India’s
first
private
cryogenic
rocket
engine
that
runs
on
LNG.
This
is
also
the
first
private
company
that
has
successfully
designed,
developed
and
tested
a
full
solid
propulsion
rocket
stage
in
India.

India’s
first
private
rocket
Vikram-S
braces
for
Nov
18
launch

A
tribute
to
the
father
of
the
Indian
Space
Programme,
Vikram
Sarabhai
Notably,
Skyroot’s
launch
vehicles
are
named
‘Vikram’ as
a
tribute
to
the
founder
of
the
Indian
Space
programme
‘Vikram
Sarabhai’.
Vikram
is
a
series
of
modular
space
launch
vehicles
especially
crafted
for
the
small
satellite
market,
and
is
expected
to
enable
the
launch
of
more
than
20,000
small
satellites
in
the
coming
decade.
The
launch
vehicles
have
unique
capabilities
like
multi-orbit
insertion
and
performing
interplanetary
missions,
according
to
Skyroot
Aerospace.

Besides
the
launch
vehicle,
the
space
startup
is
also
working
on
a
cryogenic
engine
–
Dhawan-I,
named
after
former
ISRO
Chairman
Satish
Dhawan,
which
would
operate
on
two
high-performance
rocket
propellants,
liquid
natural
gas
and
liquid
oxygen.