India's first privately developed rocket set for launch

Skyroot Aerospace is set to launch India’s first privately developed rocket, Vikram-S, the Hyderabad-headquartered startup said on Tuesday.

The final preparations are on at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)’s launch-pad in Sriharikota and a launch window between November 12 and 16 has been notified by the authorities. The date will be confirmed based on weather conditions, the startup said.

The mission named Prarambh (the beginning) was unveiled by ISRO Chairman S Somanath in Bengaluru on Monday after a technical launch clearance from space regulator IN-SPACe.

When Pawan Kumar Chandana and Naga Bharath Daka — co-founders of the startup — were in the city for the Bengaluru Space Expo in September, they said they were hopeful of launching the Vikram series of launch vehicles in a year.

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Chandana, Skyroot Aerospace CEO, thanked ISRO and IN-SPACe for their support and dedicated the “pathbreaking mission” to the Indian private space sector.

Daka, COO, said the single-stage sub-orbital launch vehicle would carry three customer payloads and help test and validate the majority of technologies in the Vikram series.

Among the three payloads is the 2.5-kg FunSat put together by Chennai-based aerospace startup Space Kidz India (SKI). Srimathy Kesan, founder and CEO, SKI, told DH that middle and high school students from the US, Singapore, Indonesia and India were involved in the basic design of FunSat.

The Vikram series, named after the founder of India’s space programme Dr Vikram Sarabhai, are all-carbon-fibre structures that can launch up to 800 kg of payloads to the Low Earth Orbit. Skyroot has designed the series for the small satellite market at low costs and with capabilities for multi-orbit insertion. It had, in 2021, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the ISRO — a first for Indian startups — on sharing the space agency’s facilities and expertise.