Stage-two test a success, Skyroot closer to India’s 1st pvt orbital rocket launch

SPACE-TECH COMPANY Skyroot Aerospace has successfully testfired the second stage of its rocket Vikram-1, the company said Thursday, a major landmark that pushes it closer to India’s first private orbital rocket launch in mid-2024. Vikram-1 is a three-stage, solid-fuel based rocket. Testing of the “second stage” is significant because this stage propels satellites from the dense atmosphere of Earth to the deep vacuum of outer space.

“This is a significant milestone for the Indian space industry, marking the successful test of the largest propulsion system ever designed and manufactured by the Indian private sector so far, and the first carbon-composite-built motor tested at ISRO,” said Pawan Chandana, cofounder and CEO of Skyroot

Aerospace. “All test parameters are within expected bounds, and this achievement takes us another step closer to the upcoming orbital launch of the Vikram1 rocket,” he added.

Chandana had earlier told The Indian Express that Skyroot is planning to launch Vikram 1 “in the middle of this year” and has already signed up customers for the first orbital launch.

The test was conducted Wednesday at the propulsion testbed of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) at its Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, Skyroot said. It lasted 85 seconds and recorded a peak thrust at sea-level of 186 kilonewtons (kn), which will translate to about 235kn during flight in vacuum, the company said.

Skyroot had in 2022 carried out a sub-orbital launch — taking payloads just to the edge of outer space.