India’s first privately developed rocket lifts off successfully

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By Sumit Jha

November 18, 2022

The Indian Space Research Organisation successfully launched the country’s first rocket developed by a private firm on 18 November.

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The rocket, Vikram-S, blasted off at five times the speed of sound from ISRO’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh at 11.30 am.

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With the launch, Hyderabad-based start-up, Skyroot Aerospace Private Limited, joined the elite group of global companies in the private sector space race.

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Skyroot Aerospace said Vikram-S was a single-stage sub-orbital launch vehicle that carried three customer payloads.

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The firm added that Vikram was the world’s first rocket entirely built with a carbon fibre structure.

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Skyroot Aerospace is the first Indian start-up with an MoU with the ISRO for sharing the latter’s facilities and expertise.

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Former ISRO scientists Pawan Kumar Chandana and Naga Bharath Daka founded Skyroot Aerospace in January 2017.

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Skyroot, which builds small satellite launch vehicles (SSLVs), has raised $68 million in funding from investors so far.

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The firm aims to make spaceflights affordable, reliable, and regular for all.

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