Nov 18, 2022
Even as the spacetech sector is abuzz with the news of Elon Musk's SpaceX bagging a $1.5 billion NASA contract to transport humans to the Moon, the Vikram-S rocket made by an Indian start-up will be taking off within two years of the world’s fifth largest economy opening up its space sector to private sector participation.
Developed by the Kondapur (Telengana)-based spacetech start-up, Skyroot, the Vikram-S suborbital vehicle will be launched from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) spaceport at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota off Andhra Pradesh coast.
The mission named ‘Prarambh’, meaning “the beginning” in Sanskrit, heralds a new era for start-ups in the country’s spacetech sector. Co-founded by former ISRO engineers Pawan Kumar Chandna and Naga Bharat Daka, the four-year-old Skyroot has successfully built and tested India’s first privately developed cryogenic, hypergolic-liquid, and solid fuel-based rocket engines. Made of composite materials, Skyroot’s Vikram-S rocket utilises 3D-printed solid thrusters or engines for spin stability.