Hyderabad-based Skyroot Aerospace on Saturday launched Vikram-1, India’s first privately developed orbital-class rocket, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. The mission, named ‘Aagaman’, is the first ever flight of Vikram-1, India’s first privately developed orbital-class rocket.
The lift-off was initially planned for 11:30 AM but was pushed back to 12.05 PM. Skyroot was ready for its first orbital launch of Vikram-1 on a cloudy Saturday morning. “All pre-flight tests last night and weather conditions this morning were okayed. Automatic launch sequence was started at T-12 minutes but was halted at T-4:59 minutes. This is a planned hold,” said Skyroot.
Vikram-1 is a 24-metre-tall, three-stage orbital launch vehicle, capable of carrying payloads weighing up to 350 kg to a 450-km Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at a 60-degree inclination. The maiden mission also carries an orbital adjustment module that can deploy satellites into their designated orbits after launch. Unlike ISRO’s launch vehicles, Vikram-1 has been developed by a private company from design to manufacturing, making it the first Indian private orbital rocket to attempt such a mission.
One of Vikram-1’s distinguishing features is its all-carbon composite structure, which significantly reduces weight while improving structural strength.
India's first privately developed orbital rocket, Vikram-1 on Saturday successfully placed multiple technology demonstration payloads and postcards, including from Prime Minister Narendra Modi into a low earth orbit. Dubbed 'Mission Aagaman' (meaning arrival), it marks the entry of India's private space sector into the orbital launch market, spearheaded by Skyroot Aerospace. The mission was a "grand success," the company said.
In its maiden voyage, the four-stage, seven-storey-tall Vikram-1 rocket lifted off majestically at 12.05 pm am on Saturday amid cloudy skies from the first launch pad, leaving behind plumes of orange smoke and marking a new era from this spaceport. A "planned hold" due to apparent navigation issues forced a revised launch time of 12.05 pm. After its ascent, the primary payloads -- technology demonstrators from Grahaa Space, Cosmoserve, DCubed, and Skyroot's SCOPE -- were sequentially deployed into a 450 km Low Earth Orbit (LEO).
The vehicle also successfully deployed a micro-art payload, an 18-karat gold rocket and a handwritten postcard from Prime Minister Narendra Modi bearing the message "Vande Mataram", along with postcards from engineers, scientists, and Indian astronauts. The miniature micro-art payload, carrying micro-sculptures of doyen of India's space programeme Vikram Sarabhai, scientist Sir CV Raman and former President APJ Abdul Kalam has been created "as a tribute to three visionaries who shaped India's scientific and space journey," the company said. "Skyroot proudly named its rockets and engines after these icons," it added.
The engineering data collected during this test flight will be analysed to validate guidance and navigation systems, and to guide future refinements for commercial satellite missions, Skyroot Aerospace said. With its Saturday mission, Skyroot Aerospace successfully demonstrated its orbital launch capability with the maiden flight of the Vikram-1 launch vehicle, moving beyond the suborbital flight achieved by its Vikram-S mission in 2022. The successful flight validated the performance of the rocket's all-carbon composite structure and 3D-printed engines in a real flight environment, features claimed by the company as "first". Both Chandana and co-founder Naga Bharath Daka are former ISRO scientists and were present at the space agency's Mission Control Center (MCC), along with its chief V Narayanan. Former ISRO chiefs, astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and Andhra Pradesh minister Nara Lokesh were among those who witnessed the launch from the MCC.
This historic milestone is expected to strengthen India's position in the fast-growing global small satellite launch market, expanding the country's presence in space alongside ISRO.
The payloads that piggybacked Vikram-1 include Cosmoserve Space' Embrace (mission name), an in-orbit demonstration of robotic arms capable of removing space debris, Solaras by Grahaa Space which is a compact satellite mission developed to demonstrate new capabilities in LEO. According to the company, Scope satellite by Skyroot Aerospace is an in-house experimental payload developed to test space technologies in future missions. Cosmic Bloom, an "artistic lab-grown diamond" by Cosmos Diamonds and German test payload uD3PP and mD3RN by Dcubed also reached the space on Saturday.