India Achieves New Milestone: Private Company Skyroot Aerospace Launches Vikram-1 Rocket

In recent years, the market for space launches has undergone a radical change. Several private companies dedicated to putting scientific and commercial payloads into orbit have emerged. In the USA, SpaceX is one of the most successful examples, but China has also embarked on a similar path. India appears to want to follow in the footsteps of other nations, and a first milestone has been reached by Skyroot Aerospace, which has launched the Vikram-1 rocket for the Aagaman mission.

The launch took place at 8:35 AM local time today from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. The Vikram-1 rocket is a lightweight solution designed for small satellites, Cubesats, microsats, and constellations with reduced mass. Specifically, for this test mission, two Cubesats—SCOPE and Grahaa—were placed into low Earth orbit.

The Indian private company Skyroot Aerospace had previously conducted a suborbital launch with a Vikram-S rocket on November 18, 2022. However, this is the first orbital mission, and it is remarkable that it has achieved complete success, even though it is a relatively simple and not very powerful vehicle. The performance of the Vikram-1 rocket indicates a capacity to deliver up to 350 kg to LEO or up to 250 kg to sun-synchronous orbit.

The rocket has a structure entirely made of composite materials and carbon fiber with 4 stages. The first 3 stages use solid propellant, while the fourth stage uses monomethylhydrazine, with the engine capable of being reignited for orbital adjustments. The overall height of the vehicle is about 24 meters with a diameter of 1.7 meters.

In the future, Skyroot Aerospace is considering launching a more powerful and complex solution called Vikram-2. In this case, there will be cryogenic liquid propellants capable of placing up to 900 kg into LEO and up to 600 kg into sun-synchronous orbit. The first launch of this model is expected in 2027. Alongside future space missions in low Earth orbit and to the Moon, India is showing its intent to invest heavily in Space. This will lead in the future to the creation of its own space station and crews on the lunar surface.