India's Skyroot Aerospace readies country's first private orbital rocket launch
- The Vikram-1, a seven-stories-tall, multi-stage launch vehicle, is designed to carry payloads of up to 350 kilograms into the low Earth orbit
Indian space startup Skyroot Aerospace said on Thursday it was preparing for the launch of its Vikram-1 rocket, the first attempt by an Indian private company to place a satellite in orbit.
Founded by former Indian Space Research Organisation engineers, Skyroot is developing small rockets similar to those built by Rocket Lab and Firefly Aerospace.
The Vikram-1, a seven-stories-tall, multi-stage launch vehicle, is designed to carry payloads of up to 350 kilograms into the low Earth orbit.
Skyroot, which became India’s first space startup to reach a $1 billion valuation after raising $60 million from GIC and Sherpalo Ventures in May, has set a July 12 - August 4 launch window for the maiden flight from the country’s main spaceport, the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.
The test flight, carrying a mix of domestic and international customers, aims primarily to collect in-flight performance data across propulsion, guidance and stage separation systems, the company said.
The launch comes as India opens its state-dominated space sector to private companies, seeking a bigger share of the global market for satellite launches and related services.
Industrial groups such as Larsen & Toubro and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited are also moving into rocket manufacturing as the government pushes to build a $44 billion space economy by 2033.
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