Skyroot Vikram-S launch highlights: ISRO confirms launch of Vikram-S rocket

WRITTEN BY DNA Web Team | Updated: Nov 18, 2022, 03:19 PM IST
Skyroot aerospace Vikram-S rocket launch LIVE: India’s first privately built rocket launched today

Vikram-S is one of the world's first few all-composite rockets with solid 3-D printed thrusters for the launch vehicle's spin stability.

The first privately produced rocket in India, the Vikram-S, will be launched by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) from its spaceport in Sriharikota on Friday. Sriharikota is about 115 kilometres from Chennai. The Vikram-S rocket's inaugural launch by Skyroot Aerospace, a four-year-old startup, will herald the entry of the private sector into the nation's space industry, which has been dominated for decades by the state-run ISRO.
 
After the Center opened the sector to private participants in 2020, Skyroot Aerospace became the first commercial enterprise in India to give the Indian space programme wings.
 
If the weather is favourable, Vikram-S will take off at 11:30 am. Additionally, it was delayed from November 15. 
 
Vikram's launch vehicle consists of the Vikram II and Vikram III series. According to the business, the Vikram-S launch vehicle can be constructed and launched from any launch site in under 24 hours.
 
A tribute to Vikram Sarabhai, the man credited with founding the Indian Space Program
 
This launch vehicle bears the name of Vikram Sarabhai, the man who spearheaded India's space programme, in recognition of his enormous contribution to the growth of the country's space industry.
 
The mission, titled "Prarambh" (the beginning), would transport three payloads created by the Armenian BazoomQ Space Research Lab, Chennai-based Space Kids, and Andhra Pradesh-based N Space Tech India, according to a release from Skyroot Aerospace.
 
For spin stability, the six-meter-tall Vikram-S rocket is made of 3-D printed solid thrusters. The launch will show how avionics equipment from the Vikram series, such as telemetry, tracking, inertial measurement, a GPS, an onboard camera, data acquisition, and power systems, perform in flight.
 
 

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  • Lt. Gen. AK Bhatt, Director General, of Indian Space Associations said, "The maiden launch by a new Startup has significantly enhanced the credibility for Indian private space players around the globe. The capability that the sector has been claiming has been demonstrated in Space. Since its inception in 2018, Skyroot has come a long way in delivering its expertise in manufacturing of small lift launch vehicles by launching India’s first private rocket which was manufactured in just two years. The Vikram-S rocket's success will further validate most of the technologies in the ‘Vikram’ series of space launch vehicles planned by Skyroot for the coming years. India’s space economy is set to grow to US$13b and the space launch segment is estimated to grow the fastest by 2025 at a CAGR of 13% which will be further spurred by growing private participation, latest technology adoption and low cost of launch services and this launch is a major landmark for this growth to take place in the coming years.”

  • It is a symbol of a new India and the Prarambh of a great future. 

  • As the first private rocket of India to grace the skies, Vikram-S makes space history. 

  • Mission 'Prarambh' is accomplished. 

  • At 11.30 a.m., the first privately developed rocket in India, Vikram-S, successfully launched from the Sriharikota spaceport's sounding rocket complex.

  • Quick facts on Vikram-S:

    • The Vikram-S launch rocket is launched by the Kondapur space tech startup Skyroot (Telangana). 
    • The firm was launched by former ISRO engineers.
    • Skyroot has raised $68 million in funding to date.   
  • The Vikram-S rocket is among the first few all-composite rockets in the world with 3D-printed solid engines and upgradable architecture, as per the reports. The rocket is scheduled to launch during Mission Prarambh at an altitude of 81 kilometres above sea level, rise to a maximum height of 101 kilometres, and then splash into the ocean 5 minutes later.

  • The rocket is anticipated to reach an altitude of 81.5km around 2.3 minutes after takeoff, with a total payload mass of 83kg.

  • The single-stage suborbital rocket Vikram-S from Skyroot Aerospace is getting ready to lift off. The Vikram-S launch during Mission Prarambh is set to kick off at 11:30 am.

  • In honour of renowned physicist Vikram Sarabhai, the pioneer of the Indian space programme, Skyroot Aerospace has dubbed its Vikram-series rockets. Sarabhai also had a significant impact on India's nuclear power development.
  • Three payloads from the Chennai-based firm SpaceKidz, the Andhra Pradesh-based N-SpaceTech, and the Armenian BazoomQ Space Research Lab will be launched aboard the six-meter-long Vikram-S rocket. The rocket's engine will burn out 25 seconds after liftoff, at an altitude of 17.9 km, and Vikram-S will eject cargo at an altitude of 81.5 km.

  • Vikram-S mission is named ‘Prarambh’ which means ‘the beginning.’ The Vikram-S rocket was developed by startup Skyroot aerospace. 

  • Three satellites, including the FunSat by SpaceKidz India, which was partially created by students, will be carried by Vikram-S. Between 290 kg and 560 kg of payloads can be carried by the Vikram rockets into sun-synchronous polar orbits.

  • According to reports, the mission would be launched from the propulsion centre where sounding rockets were used by ISRO. "This is a small rocket and instead of those big ones, this centre where sounding rockets were used by ISRO will be used tomorrow," an official told PTI.
  • Calling this a "major milestone", Dr Pawan K Goenka, Chairman of the Indian National  Space Promotion and Authorisation Center (IN-SPACE) said: "Already 150 private players have applied to be in the space of launch vehicle, satellites, payload and ground stations".
  • Up to this point, Rs. 526 crores have been raised for Skyroot Aerospace. The company is working toward a time when "space becomes part of us" and intends to "open space for all."

  • Skyroot Aerospace views today's mission as a significant accomplishment because it will help test and validate the majority of the technologies in the Vikram series of orbital-class space launch vehicles, including numerous sub-systems and technologies that will be tested both prior to liftoff and during the launch itself.

  • ‘India set to script history by launching the first-ever private rocket developed by Skyroot Aerospace’ says Jitendra Singh 
     
    Jitendra Singh, the Union Minister of State for Personnel, emphasised the significance of the mission by claiming that India is about to write history by launching the first private rocket ever created by "Skyroot Aerospace" from Sriharikota, under the supervision of ISRO.
     
    He ascribed this to the sector's reforms, which he said were important in enabling start-ups to realise their full potential. Currently, 102 start-up companies, according to him, are engaged in cutting-edge research, nanosatellites, launch vehicles, ground systems, and space debris control.