India’s first private rocket completed its final burn and injected multiple technolog payloads and special post cards from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota into a 450km orbit on Saturday afternoon.
Named “Mission Aagaman” (arrival), the test flight’s launch marks a historic milestone for the country’s commercial space sector, executed by Hyderabad-based Skyroot Aerospace, making India the third nation to posses private orbital launch capacity.
The rocket carries a special message printed on a commemorative card from the PM which reads- Vande Mataram. He described the maiden orbital launch as historic new frontier” in the country’s space journey and a reflection of the talent and entrepreneurial spirit of India’s youth.
In a post on X ahead of the launch, the Prime Minister said Vikram-1, developed by Skyroot Aerospace, is India’s first privately built orbital launch vehicle and is designed to provide rapid and on-demand launch services.
Ahead of the launch, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) former Chairman S Somnath also extended his best wishes to the Skyroot Aerospace team, calling the mission a significant milestone for India’s growing private space sector.
Vikram 1 is a seven story tall rocket, a maiden attempt by the eight-year-old startup to send a rocket into Low Earth Orbit.
Earlier in 2022, the company launched Vikram-S in a suborbital flight to demonstrate the ability to reach space and enter into orbit around Earth. Since then, Skyroot has been working on building Vikram-1 and Vikram-2, both four-stage rockets designed to carry 350 kg and 900 kg payloads to space, respectively.
Skyroot Aerospace was founded by Pawan Kumar Chandana and Naga Bharath Daka, former ISRO scientists, in 2018 in Hyderabad. The company is currently valued at $1.2 billion, making it India’s first space tech unicorn.