Chennai, India

Indian launch vehicle firm Skyroot Aerospace has announced that their company's first rocket launch would be carried out at 11:30 am on Tuesday, 15 November. The launch of the sub-orbital rocket named 'Vikram-S' will take place from India's spaceport Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. This rocket flight will mark the first-ever launch of a privately designed and built rocket from India. The launch window was announced as 12-16 November and the launch date had to be firmed up based on the weather conditions in India's East Coast, given the prevailing North East Monsoon. 

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Named 'Vikram-S', the rocket built by Skyroot is meant to lift three payloads belonging to their customers in a Sub-orbital flight(roughly 80 kms above sea level). Generally, anything lofted above the 'Karman Line' (100 kms above sea level) is considered a foray into space and those below the Karman Line are known as sub-orbital flights for upper-atmospheric experiments. 

This launch gains significance because it would offer an opportunity for Skyroot to test its flight hardware and systems, thus helping validate their work so far. the company is working on three orbital-class rockets in the Vikram series. The Vikram series of rockets are named after the Indian Physicist and Astronomer Dr. Vikram A Sarabhai, who founded the Indian Space Programme and laid down the ambitious vision for India to use space technology to benefit the common man. 

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"We could build and get our 'Vikram-S' rocket mission-ready in such a short time only because of the invaluable support we received from ISRO and IN-SPACe, and the technology talent that we inherently possess. We are proud to announce our pathbreaking mission 'Prarambh'(the beginning) dedicated to the Indian private space sector, which has hugely benefited from the reforms that were guided by the Government of India and its vision" said Pawan Chandana, Co-Founder and CEO, Skyroot Aerospace. 

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Pawan had told WION that 'Vikram-S' would be a single-stage rocket that is powered by solid fuel. It will be burning a combination of Aluminium and Ammonium Perchlorate, with Hydroxyl-terminated Polybutadiene acting as a binder. This is a tried and tested solid fuel and is also the same fuel that is used in the solid-stages of India's PSLV and GSLV rockets. ISRO (then known as INCOSPAR) began experimenting with small rockets in the early 1960s and marked the beginning of India's Space programme and the launch of a private rocket from India will kick-start a new era for the private space sector in India.

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India's space sector has been dominated by the state-run space agency, Indian Space Research Organization(ISRO) and a few industries that make components for ISRO. However, from 2020 onwards the Indian Government began the roll out of Space Sector Reforms. These reforms are meant to enable private firms in building their own rockets, satellites, related ground equipment etc. This was done with the intention of ensuring that more firms in India can capitalise on the booming global space economy, which is estimated around $450bn. 

Though India has end-to-end indigenous capability in designing, building and launching rockets, orbiting satellites and using the data for civilian strategic purposes, India is a small player in the global market. While India does launch satellites for foreign nations, India's share remains around 1.6-2% of the $450bn global market. Private sector players with their innovative ideas and competitive pricing are expected to gradually push the share further and create an aerospace ecosystem in India. IN-SPACe, under the Government of India, is meant to develop the Indian Space ecosystem, accelerate the space economy in India and nurture private firms to accomplish their ventures in the space sector.

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