In a historic first, on 18th July India’s first private orbital launch named Vikram-I, successfully lifted off from Sriharikota and has successfully placed multiple technology demonstration payloads into orbit. These payloads include two satellites named SCOPE & Grahaa which were injected to a Low Earth Orbit along with others that carry out various in-orbit experiments.
This is a phenomenal achievement by Skyroot Aerospace Private Limited which was founded in 2018 by two ISRO scientists. Skyroot became the first private Indian company to successfully reach the space in first attempt making India the third country in world after USA and China to have rocket launch by private company. The really cool fact about this is that the average age of the company staff is 28. So much for the youth today not doing anything new…
Skyroot Aerospace had earlier conducted a sub-orbital launch of a test rocket, Vikram-S from Sriharikota on November 18, 2022. Subsequently, Vikram-I was developed as a 4-stage rocket with 3 solid stages and a liquid stage, which can launch small satellites to LEO. ISRO& IN-SPACE provided handholding and support to this venture by facilitating this launch. ISRO provided access to the solid motor casting and static test facilities at SDSC, Sriharikota. The first stage solid motor was cast and tested at the facilities in SDSC. The second stage motor was also validated at the static test facility in SDSC.
The liquid engine used in the VIKRAM-I upper stage (RAMAN-I)was also tested at the LPSC test facility. During the pre-launch operations, all support was provided for the vehicle stage preparation, material handling, transport of stages to launch pad, trajectory analysis and vehicle integration on the First Launch Pad (FLP). ISRO’s safety team was ensuring safe operations by the Skyroot team at SDSC on a 24×7 basis.
IN-SPACe, the regulation & promotion agency for space activities in the country, played a major role in establishing a seamless mechanism for Non-Governmental Entities (NGEs) like Skyroot Aerospace to access the facilities of ISRO and provide the necessary technical consultancy, mission readiness reviews and launch clearances. ISRO & IN-SPACe congratulates the team at Skyroot Aerospace for the successful maiden launch of Vikram-I launcher. This launch has paved the way for similar ventures and opens up the gates to global commercial opportunities.
Hats off to the team at Skyroot and looking forward to more such achievements from them in the near future.
Source: ISRO: First private orbital launch lifts off from Sriharikota
– Suramya