Vikram-1 Rocket, Set to Launch Satellites Early Next Year, Unveiled by Skyroot Aerospace

Space start-up Skyroot Aerospace on Tuesday unveiled its indigenously built Vikram-1 rocket which is expected to deliver satellites to low earth orbit early next year. 

Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh also inaugurated ‘The MAX-Q Campus’, the new headquarters of the start-up at the GMR Aerospace and Industrial Park at Mamidipally in South Hyderabad.

Singh toured the Skyroot headquarters spread across 60,000sqft and billed as the country’s largest private rocket development facility under one roof.

Vikram-1 is a multi-stage launch vehicle with a capacity to place around 300 kg payloads in Low Earth Orbit. It is an all-carbon-fibre-bodied rocket that can place multiple satellites into orbit and features 3D-printed liquid engines. Planned to be launched in early 2024, Vikram-I will be Skyroot’s second rocket, after the successful launch of the Vikram-S rocket on November 18 last year.

Skyroot’s new headquarters houses integrated design, manufacturing and testing facilities for building space launch vehicles, and design space for the 300-member strong workforce. “Every rocket, during its travel to space, has to push through a point of maximum stress called ‘Max-Q’. Our MAX-Q headquarters serves as a powerful symbol of our unwavering commitment to pushing boundaries and accomplishing the extraordinary, all in pursuit of our mission to Open Space For All,” Pawan Chandana, co-founder and CEO of Skyroot Aerospace said.

“Skyroot is not only an example of India’s superlative talent and scientific acumen but it also has a message for all of us that a huge potential was lying dormant for several decades before Prime Minister Narendra Modi came and broke the taboos of the past and opened India’s Space Sector for Public Private Partnership (PPP),” Singh said. The unveiling of Vikram-1 space launch vehicle on the same day as the company’s new headquarters inauguration is a moment of great pride, said Bharath Daka, Co-Founder and COO of Skyroot.

“Our design prowess and cutting-edge home-grown technology have been integral to the creation of Vikram-1. As we eagerly prepare for the early 2024 launch, we will keep sharing further updates on the orbital mission with Vikram-1,” Daka said.


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India’s First Privately Developed Rocket Vikram-S to Launch on November 15

India’s first privately developed rocket — Vikram-S — is set for a November 15 launch on a sub-orbital mission with three payloads, Hyderabad-based space startup Skyroot Aerospace announced on Tuesday.

The maiden mission of Skyroot Aerospace, named ‘Prarambh’ (the beginning), will carry payloads of two Indian and one foreign customers and is set for launch from the Indian Space Research Organisation‘s launchpad at Sriharikota.

“Heartbeats quicken. All gazes are up to the sky. The earth is listening. It all points to November 15, 2022 for launch,” Skyspace Aerospace said on Friday.

The launch is scheduled for 11:30am, Skyroot Aerospace CEO and co-founder Pawan Kumar Chandana had told PTI.

Spacekidz, a Chennai-based aerospace startup, will fly ‘Fun-Sat’, a 2.5kg payload developed by students from India, the US, Singapore and Indonesia on the sub-orbital flight on board Vikram-S.

With this mission, 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.

Skyroot’s launch vehicles are named ‘Vikram’ as a tribute to the founder of the Indian space programme and renowned scientist Vikram Sarabhai.

Based in Hyderabad, Skyroot was the first startup to sign a memorandum of understanding with ISRO for launching its rockets.

It aims to disrupt entry barriers to cost-efficient satellite launch services and space-flight by advancing its mission to make spaceflights affordable, reliable and regular for all, the statement said.

Set up in 2018, Skyroot has successfully built and tested India’s first privately developed cryogenic, hypergolic-liquid, and solid fuel-based rocket engines using advanced composite and 3D-printing technologies.

Skyroot Aerospace successfully raised $51 million (nearly Rs. 410 crore) through a Series-B financing round, in September this year. It had raised $11 million (nearly Rs. 88 crore) in Series-A capital raise in July last year.

 


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