Hyderabad: India’s first private orbital rocket Vikram-1, developed by Hyderabad-based Skyroot Aerospace, is all set for its maiden test flight on July 18 with lift-off scheduled for 11.30 am as part of `Mission Aagaman’ (meaning arrival).The launch will mark the first flight of an orbital-class rocket fully designed and developed by an Indian private company from domestic soil.Vikram-1, named in honour of Dr Vikram Sarabhai, will take off from the first launchpad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre-Sriharikota Range, Skyroot Aerospace said on Thursday after days of intense speculation on the launch date.The authorities have already issued airspace and maritime notices establishing restricted zones along the rocket’s ascent and impact corridor.Vikram-1 has been integrated and stacked on the pad, with final integrated vehicle checks completed from Skyroot’s launch control centre. Interface checks with telemetry ground stations and tracking radars have also been finished ahead of the test flight.Pawan Kumar Chandana, Skyroot’s co-founder and chief executive, said the company completed all possible ground testing and would use the flight to gather critical performance data.“This is our first test flight, and we will be getting valuable data from it,” he said, calling the mission foundational to Skyroot’s plans to establish a regular launch cadence.The seven-storey, multistage launch vehicle is built using an all-carbon composite structure and powered by propulsion systems developed in-house, including 3D-printed engines and high-thrust solid-fuel boosters.Vikram-1 is designed to place small satellites weighing up to 350 kg into low-Earth orbit. The first test flight is targeting a 450 km orbit at an inclination of 60 degrees.The rocket will carry technology demonstration payloads from Grahaa Space, Cosmoserve, DCubed and Skyroot’s SCOPE, along with Cosmos Diamonds’ artwork “Cosmic Bloom” and a micro-art piece.Naga Bharath Daka, co-founder and chief operating officer, said the launch represented years of work by about 1,000 people and more than 400 suppliers. He said data from the flight would guide improvements as Skyroot works towards building a reliable, on-demand launch service from India for customers.Mission Aagaman follows Skyroot’s Vikram-S suborbital flight on Nov 18, 2022, when the company became the first Indian private player to send a rocket to space from Indian territory. The Hyderabad-based firm is developing the Vikram series to serve small satellite operators seeking dedicated access to orbit.Founded by Chandana and Daka, Skyroot has developed carbon composite structures and solid, liquid and cryogenic propulsion systems at its Hyderabad campuses. Backed by investors including GIC, Temasek, Sherpalo Ventures and BlackRock-managed funds, the company became India’s first unicorn in May this year with a valuation of more than $1.1 billion.
