Hyderabad-based startup to launch India\'s first private rocket between Nov 12-16

HYDERABAD: Hyderabad-based spacetech start-up Skyroot Aerospace is poised to create history by launching India’s first privately developed rocket — Vikram-S — from the launchpad of the India Space Research Organisation (Isro) in Sriharikota. The company has a launch window between November 12 and 16 and the schedule will be confirmed based on the weather and other conditions.

Signifying a new dawn for private players in the space sector, the mission has been named ‘Prarambh,’ the beginning. Skyroot Aerospace had signed a memorandum of understanding with Isro after the space sector was recently opened to facilitate private sector participation.

It may be mentioned that the department of space has created the Indian National Space, Promotion & Authorization Centre (INSPACe) to encourage, promote and hand-hold the private sector for their participation in Space Sector.

CEO and co-founder of Skyroot Aerospace, Pawan Kumar Chandana attributed their success in building and getting the Vikram-S rocket mission-ready in a short time to support from Isro and IN-SPACe.

“We are proud to announce our pathbreaking mission ‘Prarambh’ dedicated to the Indian private space sector, which has hugely benefited from the guidance and the reforms of the Indian government,” Pawan Kumar said and added that the name ‘Vikram’ given to Skyroot’s launch vehicles was a tribute to the founder of the Indian space programme and renowned scientist Dr Vikram Sarabhai.

COO and co-founder of Skyroot Aerospace, Naga Bharath Daka said “The Vikram-S rocket is a single-stage sub-orbital launch vehicle which would carry three customer payloads and help test and validate majority of the technologies in the Vikram series of space launch vehicles.”