Skyroot Aerospace, locate
d in Kondapur (Telengana), is prepared to make history by launching a rocket into space for the first time as a commercial space enterprise in India. The mission known as “Prarambh,” which means “the beginning” in Sanskrit, marks the beginning of a new era for entrepreneurs in the nation’s spacetech industry.
ISRO Chairman Dr. S. Somanath unveiled Skyroot’s maiden space mission on Monday in Bengaluru. This came after receiving permission for a technical launch from IN-SPACe, the single-window nodal organisation for promoting and regulating space technology businesses.
Although a launch window between November 12 and 16 has been announced by the authorities, the precise day will be determined by the weather. From the ISRO Satish Dhawan Space Centre spaceport in Sriharikota, off the coast of Andhra Pradesh, the rocket will be launched into orbit.
In order to encourage private sector engagement in 2020, the space sector was opened up. Skyroot signed an MoU with ISRO in 2021, making it the first company in space technology to share resources and knowledge.
The CEO and co-founder of Skyroot Aerospace, Pawan Kumar Chandana, thanked ISRO and IN-SPACe for their support in a statement to Business Today. “We are proud to announce our pathbreaking mission ‘Prarambh’ dedicated to the Indian private space sector, which has hugely benefited from the reforms that were guided by the government of India and its vision”
Skyroot’s 200-person engineering team is creating the launch vehicles under the brand name Vikram, honouring Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, who founded the nation’s space programme. The Vikram family of rockets, constructed entirely of carbon fibre, are capable of launching payloads as heavy as 800 kg into low-earth orbit (LEO).
The Vikram-S rocket is a single-stage sub-orbital launch vehicle that will transport three client payloads and help test and verify the majority of technologies in our Vikram family of space launch vehicles, according to the company’s COO and co-founder, Naga Bharath Daka.
India’s first privately produced cryogenic, hypergolic-liquid, and solid fuel rocket engines were successfully constructed and tested by the four-year-old Skyroot. Advanced composite and 3D-printing technologies are used widely in R&D and manufacturing operations.
In September of this year, Skyroot Aerospace was successful in raising $51 million, or Rs 403 crore, in a Series-B financing transaction. This is by far the largest fundraising round ever in India’s space technology industry, and it is being led by the long-term investment company GIC, which has its headquarters in Singapore.
Currently, according to figures from the information technology services business Tracxn and Business Today, 53 spacetech startups in India have received $220 million in total. The leader in the field is Skyroot Aerospace, followed by AgniKul and satellite manufacturer Pixxel.
