Skyroot Fires Ahead With Kalam Booster

Hyderabad: Hyderabad-based Skyroot Aerospace said it had successfully conducted a static test of India’s largest rocket stage built by a private company, marking a big step towards the maiden flight of the country’s first privately developed orbital launch vehicle, Vikram-1.

The test took place on Friday at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota under the supervision of the Indian Space Research Organisation. The Stage 1 booster, called Kalam-1200 in honour of former President and rocket scientist Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, is made of carbon composite and uses solid fuel. Measuring 11 metres in length, it can produce nearly 1,200 kiloNewtons of thrust in a vacuum, almost 10 times the thrust of an engine on a Boeing 737 Max.

The casting of the Kalam-1200, which involves filling and shaping the solid propellant inside its casing, was carried out at Isro’s facility in Sriharikota. During Friday’s static test, the booster was fired for about 110 seconds, generating the expected thrust consistently throughout the burn.

The test also confirmed the motor’s performance, burn rate, thermal protection system and the working of its flex nozzle, a steering mechanism controlled by Vikram-1’s onboard mission computer to guide the rocket from the launch pad to orbit.

In actual flight, Kalam-1200 will lift Vikram-1 to over 50 km above Earth before an advanced pneumatic system separates the stage, allowing the rocket’s upper stages to continue their journey into orbit.

Skyroot’s co-founder and CEO, Pawan Kumar Chandana, called the moment “exhilarating yet humbling,” crediting years of hard work by the young team and the support from ISRO and IN-SPACe. COO Naga Bharath Daka said the milestone has “supercharged” the team ahead of the rocket’s maiden launch later this year.

Dr Pawan Goenka, chairman of IN-SPACe, hailed the achievement as a landmark for India’s private space sector. Once operational, Vikram-1 will offer on-demand, customised launches for small satellites, serving both Indian and global operators, and making history as the first private Indian rocket to reach orbit.