Mission Prarambh: India’s privately built rocket VIkram S to launch on Friday

Behind the launch of the Vikram-S rocket under mission Prarambh, lies all the hard work of a four-year-old startup, Skyroot Aerospace. The company’s maiden rocket launch will pave way for the private sector in the Indian space industry which enjoyed the monopoly of ISRO for decades.

Vikram-S will be launched at 11:30 am provided weather favours its lift-off. Its launch date was also extended from 15 November.

Vikram launch vehicle consists of the Vikram II and Vikram III series. The Vikram-S launch vehicle can be assembled and launched within 24 hours from any launch site, said the company.

A tribute to the father of the Indian Space Programme, Vikram Sarabhai

To commemorate the immense contribution of Vikram Sarabhai in the development of the Indian Space sector, this launch vehicle is named after the father of the Indian Space programme.

The mission Prarambh will carry three payloads, out of which two will be of domestic customers and the third one will be of a foreign client. One of the domestic customers is a chennai-based startup, SpaceKidz. The second one is Andhra Pradesh’s N-SpaceTech. Armenian BazoomQ Space Research Lab is the third and only foreign customer in the mission.

The six-metre tall rocket consists of 3-D printed solid thrusters for its spin stability. The launch will demonstrate the flight proving of avionics systems in Vikram series like telemetry, tracking, inertial measurement, Global Positioning System, an on-board camera, data acquisition, and power systems.

“This is a giant leap for the private space sector in India. Congratulations to Skyroot for becoming the first Indian company to be authorised for launching a rocket,” Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre Chairman Pawan Goenka said.

‘India set to script history, Jitendra Singh

Highlighting the importance of the mission, Union Minister of state for Personnel,Jitendra Singh, said India is set to script history by launching the first ever private rocket developed by ‘Skyroot Aerospace’ from Sriharikota, under the guidance of ISRO.

He attributed this to the introduction of reforms in the sector that have helped in unleashing the potential of start-ups. He said that currently, around 102 start-ups were working in cutting-edge areas of space debris management, nano-satellite, launch vehicle, ground systems, and research.

In response to his comments, Skyroot Aerospace said they are proud of the mission which will create history for Indian private space.

Instead of opting for either of the two launch pads,Vikram-S will take-off from the propulsion centre located in Siharikota reported PTI

“This is a small rocket and instead of those big ones, this centre were sounding rockets were used by ISRO will be used tomorrow,” an official told PTI.

Friday’s mission is considered to be a significant milestone for Skyroot Aerospace as it would help test and validate majority of the technologies in the Vikram series of orbital class space launch vehicles, including many sub-systems and technologies that would be tested before lift-off and post lift off phases of the launch.

(With inputs from PTI)