After the explosive launch, ‘Vikram-1’ created new history. The country’s first domestic rocket Vikram-1 has taken off into space today after the countdown. The much-awaited rocket was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh at 12:05 AM. This is a big milestone for India’s private space sector. This state-of-the-art rocket has been developed by Hyderabad’s famous space-tech startup company ‘Skyroot Aerospace’. This rocket, built entirely with indigenous technology, is a testament to the skills of Indian engineers. Today at 11:30 AM, the space-tech startup ‘Skyroot Aerospace”s first domestic rocket ‘Vikram-1’ was supposed to be launched on its mission Arjuna. But exactly 5 minutes before the flight i.e. at 11:25, it was put on “planned hold” by the mission control team. The rocket was fully prepared at the Sriharikota launch pad and as soon as the green signal was received, it took off at 12:05.
Key features of the ‘Vikram-1’ mission:
This is the country’s first private rocket that will put satellites into orbit and start a new era in the Indian space sector. Instead of traditional steel, it is made of completely light and strong ‘al-carbon composite’, which increases its capacity. The orbital adjustment module of this rocket uses India’s first fully 3D-printed liquid engine. The mission will carry ‘EMBRACE’ technology, which will test a robotic arm to clean up space debris in the future. It will carry gold statues of Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, CV Raman and Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam made from rice grains, a lab-grown diamond and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Vande Mataram’ greetings.
It is worth noting that Skyroot has previously successfully launched a sub-orbital rocket named ‘Vikram-S’ in 2022. However, no satellite was placed in orbit in that mission. ‘Vikram-1’ will carry small satellites of multiple customers into low-Earth orbit, about 450 km above the Earth’s surface. This is the first of the company’s three major development missions. After the mission is successful, the rocket will be used for regular commercial launches.
How did ‘Skyroot’ start?
Skyroot Aerospace was launched in 2018 by two former engineers of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) – Pawan Kumar Chandana and Naga Bharat Dhaka. When the Indian government opened the space sector to private companies in 2020, the Skyroot rocket construction work accelerated. And today, ‘Vikram-1’ has emerged as the biggest success of that hard work.
