Mission Prarambh: Skyroot successfully launches Vikram-S rocket

Picture credit: Skyroot Aerospace

Skyroot Aerospace's Vikram-S rocket successfully lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, on November 18 to become India's first private company to launch into space.

Vikram-S, a carbon composite suborbital rocket carrying three customer payloads, launched from the facility at 11:30 am. The rocket is also equipped with sensors that measure acceleration, pressure, and other parameters. Its previous November 12 launch date was called off due to bad weather.

The Mission Prarambh (the beginning) is a major milestone in India's space journey.

“We made history today by launching India’s first private rocket. It is a symbol of new India, and just the #Prarambh of a great future.” Pawan Kumar Chandana, Co-Founder Skyroot Aerospace. Keep watching https://t.co/p2DOuRFiIA#Prarambh #OpeningSpaceForAll— Skyroot Aerospace (@SkyrootA) November 18, 2022

This launch will aid in the validation of many technologies for Skyroot Aerospace's other launch vehicles in the Vikram series, such as Vikram I/II/III, and will also play an important role in determining when Vikram I will launch next year.

This launch comes two months after Skyroot said it had secured $51 million (Rs 403 crore) in Series-B funding. The company said that the funding would help with their "initial development launches."

The startup has also received significant support for this launch from the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (In-SPACe) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

Skyroot Aerospace was founded by IIT alumni Pawan Kumar Chandana and Naga Bharat Daka while they were both working at the Indian Space Research Centre (ISRO). They founded the company in 2018 and received seed funding from Mukesh Bansal's Meraki Ventures to help them get started.