Context

• Skyroot to launch India’s 1st privately developed rocket Vikram-S.

About Vikram-S /Mission Prarambh

• The homegrown Vikram-S rocket will launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, marking India’s advent into commercial space exploration.
• The Vikram-S rocket is a single-stage sub-orbital launch vehicle which will carry three customer payloads and help test and validate technologies in the Vikram series space launch vehicles.
  • Its launch vehicles have been crafted specially for the small satellite market, and are named ‘Vikram’ as a tribute to Vikram Sarabhai, founder of the Indian space programme. They come in three forms, Vikram I, II, and III.
• The mission, dubbed Prarambh, is expected to launch in the second week of November on a demonstration flight with the Vikram-S launch vehicle and three separate payloads.

  

• The company will launch the fully powered Vikram-1 rocket after that.
• The Prarambh (which means beginning) mission will witness the launch of the Vikram-S rocket, a homegrown launch vehicle developed by the Telangana-based startup Skyroot Aerospace.
• The rocket will carry three student-made payloads, including one by SpaceKidz India, which has been developed by students from several countries, including Indonesia.
• The Prarambh mission will launch from Sriharikota to an altitude of 120 kilometers above the surface of Earth, officially crossing the Karmen line where space begins.
• The three-stage solid motor rocket is expected to carry around 80 kilograms of payload during the demonstration flight.
• While Prarambh is a demonstration mission, it is still a full-scale suborbital launch for the company, which aims to strengthen the private space sector in the company.
• The mission will validate the technology, engine, and designs of the Vikram rocket and demonstrate that it is capable of launching heavy payloads into Low Earth Orbit.
• Skyroot has been developing three variants of the Vikram rocket. While the Vikram-I can carry 480 kilograms of payload to Low Earth Orbit, the Vikram-II is equipped to lift off with 595 kilograms of cargo.
• Meanwhile, Vikram-III can launch with an 815 kg to 500 km Low Inclination Orbit.

Significance

• The launch marks a new beginning in the Indian space sector, which has so far been under the sole domain of the Indian Space Research Organisation.
• The Indian space agency has been solely responsible for developing, designing, and launching rockets and missions into space.
• The launch of the Prarambh mission will mark a new age with the private sector shouldering a part of the burden of the public organisation.
• The development will also mark a crucial phase that the private sector is capable of not just developing and designing these launch vehicles but also attracting customers and investments into the sector, which has largely been dependent on the public exchequer. Several countries in the world, including the US, Europe, and Russia have opened up their space sectors for private organisations and the rise of companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin is visible globally.
• India recently opened its space sector for private companies and the announcement shows that the system is working. Isro and InSpace have been working closely with private companies in providing expertise and technical know-how about the systems and complex designs of a rocket system.

Reference: India Today

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