This view of the Vikram-1 rocket’s upper stage payload deck was taken moments after it entered orbit on Saturday. The rocket carried two small CubeSats and several more payloads attached to the upper stage.
Credit: Skyroot Aerospace
This view of the Vikram-1 rocket’s upper stage payload deck was taken moments after it entered orbit on Saturday. The rocket carried two small CubeSats and several more payloads attached to the upper stage.
Credit: Skyroot Aerospace
Skyroot’s breakthrough launch comes at a time when the Indian government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is trying to boost the country’s space industry. India has long had a robust space program, with rockets such as the government-developed Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle and the larger LVM3 attracting commercial customers from the US and Europe. It became India The fourth country to successfully land a spacecraft on the moon in 2023 and is working on an often-delayed case a human-rated crew capsule to fly astronauts into low Earth orbit.
Modi told India’s space industry to increase the total number of annual launches from about five launches a year to 50 by the end of the decade. The Prime Minister called Chandana and congratulated the Skyroot team after its launch on Saturday.
“This is a defining moment in India’s space journey” Modi said in a statement. “The increased involvement of our private sector opens new frontiers and accelerates innovation. This achievement will encourage countless young people to dream bigger and innovate fearlessly.”
Chandana, a former engineer at India’s space agency, co-founded Skyroot in 2018 with another ISRO scientist, Naga Bharath Dhaka. They decided to focus on developing a solid-propellant launcher first, optimizing for what Chandana described as the shortest development time and lowest cost per launch. “We wanted to get to an orbital launch vehicle in a few years,” Chandana told Ars.
“This is a test release,” he said. “Statistically, the first release from a private company almost always fails. With all the new systems, it’s very difficult to succeed. But I think we did our best to make the first release go well.”
Indeed, the first edition went very well, exceeding all expectations. Chandana said the second Vikram-1 launch could happen by the end of the year.
“This is a missile that is 100 percent made in India, 100 percent made in India, 100 percent made by the Indian people for India and the world,” Chandana said after the launch on Saturday. “This was a historic moment for India, but also a very proud moment for the global space sector, as the world needs more access to space.”
