Skyroot Aerospace Successfully Launches India’s First Private Orbital Rocket ‘Vikram-1’ Under Mission Aagaman

Key facts

• Hyderabad-based startup Skyroot Aerospace launched India’s first privately-built orbital rocket, Vikram-1, under Mission Aagaman from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
• The multi-stage Vikram-1 rocket, standing about seven storeys tall, is powered by in-house developed 3D-printed engines and high-thrust solid fuel motors, and is designed to carry small satellites weighing up to 350 kg to low-Earth orbit.
• The rocket successfully deployed a set of technology demonstration satellites into low-Earth orbit at an altitude of about 450 km, making India the third country after the United States and China to have private sector orbital launch capability.
• Vikram-1 is a four-stage vehicle with three solid propellant-fuelled stages named ‘Kalam’ and a fourth liquid propellant-based engine named ‘Raman’ for precision orbit insertion.
• The rocket’s body is made of carbon composite instead of metal, and its engines are 3D-printed, reducing time and cost of production.