India’s First Private Rocket Launched Between November 12 and 16

India’s first privately developed rocket – the Vikram-S – will be launched between November 12 and 16, Hyderabad-based Skyroot Aerospace announced on Tuesday.

Skyroot Aerospace’s first mission, named ‘Prarambh’ (beginning), will carry three payloads and is set to launch from the Indian Space Research Organisation’s launch pad in Sriharikota.

“The launch window between November 12 and 16 has been notified by the authorities, the final date is confirmed based on the weather,” said Skyroot Aerospace CEO and founder Pawan Kumar Chandana.

With this mission, Skyroot Aerospace will be the first private space company in India to launch a rocket into space, heralding a new era for the space industry that opened in 2020 to facilitate the participation of the private sector.

“The Vikram-S rocket is a single-stage sub-orbital launch vehicle that can carry three payloads and help test and validate most of the technologies in the Vikram series of space launch vehicles,” Naga Bharath Daka, Chief Operating Officer of Skyroot Aerospace it said in a statement.

Chandana said that Skyroot can build and prepare the launch of the Vikram-S rocket in a short time because of the huge support from ISRO and IN-SPACE (Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre).

The Skyroot launch vehicles have been named ‘Vikram’ as a tribute to the founder of the Indian space program and the famous scientist Vikram Sarabhai.

Based in Hyderabad, Skyroot builds state-of-the-art space launch vehicles for launching commercial satellites into space. It aims to break down barriers to entry into cost-effective satellite launch and spaceflight services by advancing its mission to make spaceflight affordable, reliable and accessible to all, the statement said.