Skyroot to launch India's 1st private orbital rocket Vikram-1 Saturday
Skyroot Aerospace, a Hyderabad startup, is about to make history with the launch of Vikram-1, India's first private orbital rocket.
The big moment happens at Sriharikota on Saturday at 11:30am as part of Mission Aagaman. This follows their successful suborbital launch in 2022.
Vikram-1 can send up to 350kg into low Earth orbit, opening new doors for Indian space tech.
Vikram-1 mixes solid and liquid propulsion
Vikram-1 is built from lightweight carbon composites and uses three solid-fuel stages plus a liquid module for fine-tuning its path.
It's carrying demo tech from Grahaa Space, Cosmoserve, DCubed, and Skyroot itself, and even a tiny art piece called Cosmic Bloom with gold sculptures honoring Indian scientists.
Co-founder and COO Naga Bharath Daka said, "We started Skyroot around eight years ago... All our effort and the team's effort is culminating today in this historic milestone," and added that they want to offer reliable and affordable satellite launches worldwide.