Skyroot Aerospace's Mission Prarambh: A closer look at India's first private rocket launch

(Left) Vikram-S launch vehicle of Skyroot Aerospace; (right) Mission patch for the flight mission that was unveiled by ISRO chairman S Somanath earlier

A successful launch of Skyroot Aerospace's Vikram-S launch vehicle next week will help in the validation of technologies for the company's other Vikram series launch vehicles, as well as provide a significant boost to the Hyderabad-based space tech startup's plans to launch its rocket Vikram-I next year.

Skyroot announced on November 8 that it has received clearance from authorities to conduct India's first private rocket launch from Sriharikota on November 18, depending on weather conditions.

The mission has been named 'Prarambh,' which means 'beginning,' to commemorate the beginning of private sector launches in India. Pawan Kumar Chandana, the startup's CEO and co-founder, will serve as the mission director.

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."

"Next, our focus is developing our flagship Vikram I orbital vehicle that we would launch next year," Chandana told Moneycontrol.

Vikram S

The startup will use its new Vikram-S rocket for the upcoming launch, according to the company. It is built of carbon composite and is a full solid state rocket with 3D-printed motors.

Vikram S is the first in the Vikram series, with Vikram I/II/III following next year. Skyroot's launch vehicles are named 'Vikram' in honour of Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, the founder of India's space programme.

According to the company, this launch vehicle is a sub-orbital, which denotes a trajectory that does not complete a full orbit of Earth. Unlike the Vikram-S, Vikram-I would be an orbital rocket.

"The Vikram-S will help test and validate 80 percent of the technologies in the Vikram series of orbital class space launch vehicles," said Chandana.

The flight vehicle is currently undergoing integration and tests at the launch site in Sriharikota.

The flight mission

Earlier, Skyroot co-founder and COO Naga Bharath Daka said that Vikram-S will carry three customer payloads during the flight.

Chandana declined to disclose any details regarding the payloads and customer information, citing confidentiality concerns.

Many of the startup's subsystems and technologies will be tested during the mission's pre-lift-off and post-lift-off stages.

"One of the key areas that we would be monitoring closely would be the performance of our solid-fueled rocket engine and several avionics on-board," Chandana told Moneycontrol while giving an insight into the key parameters of the flight mission.

A solid fuel rocket is one that has its fuel and oxidant mixed together as fine powders and then pressed into a solid 'cake,' according to the European Space Agency. "Once it has been lit it will carry on burning until it is used up," the agency said.

The preparation

"Over the last 2 years, we have worked on the Vikram S relentlessly with unwavering focus. Step by step, we achieved one development milestone after another," said Chandana.

The startup completed a full-duration test-firing of one of Vikram-I's three rocket stages in May. The third stage of Vikram-I, named 'Kalam-100,' had a burn time of 108 seconds and a peak vacuum thrust of 100 kN (or ~10Tons).

"Despite pandemic-related delays, our team remained agile and focused. We have developed new cutting-edge technologies, including carbon composites and 3D printing within the Indian industry," he added.

For this launch, the startup has also received considerable support from the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (In-SPACE) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

"Apart from launch support, we have undertaken several testing processes within the ISRO test facilities to enable our launch, including the testing of various flight hardware," Chandana explained.