Hyderabad-based startup successfully test-fires first homegrown upper-stage rocket engine

Hyderabad-based start-up Skyroot Aerospace successfully test-fired India’s first homegrown upper-stage rocket engine. The aerospace start-up became the first privately owned Indian firm to achieve this feat.

Skyroot’s Twitter bio described the mission as “Democratizing Space Access” and dedicated the rocket engine named ‘Raman’ to the space reform initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recently.

They posted a video of Raman’s test firing on August 13 and claimed it to be a “100 percent 3D-printed injector, with a metal-matrix composite throat, multi-start capability, and long-duration mission support."

Unveiling our Raman Engine test firing footage!

1. 100% 3D Printed Injector 2. Metal-Matrix Composite throat 3. Multi-start capability 4. Long duration mission support We dedicate this to the recent Space reform by @PMOIndia@narendramodi@nsitharamanhttps://t.co/PmSFyC2ppo — Skyroot Aerospace (@SkyrootA) August 13, 2020

The Skyroot Aerospace team was congratulated by Telangana IT Minister KT Rama Rao, who also promised them all possible assistance from the state government. He even met the team including Skyroot Aerospace CEO Pawan Chandana, their COO Bharath Daka, and Senior Vice President Vasudevan Gnana Gandhi.

KTR’s team tweeted: “A Hyderabad based Aerospace start-up has successfully test-fired an upper-stage rocket engine, becoming the first Indian private firm to demonstrate the capability to build a homegrown rocket engine.”

Minister @KTRTRS met with founding team of @SkyrootA - A Hyderabad based Aerospace startup, which has successfully test fired an upper-stage rocket engine, becoming the first Indian pvt firm to demonstrate the capability to build a homegrown rocket engine. pic.twitter.com/wKySZP98sO

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— Minister for IT, Industries, MA & UD, Telangana (@MinisterKTR) August 14, 2020