India’s first private rocket – Vikram-S

In News: India’s first privately developed rocket — Vikram-S — is set for a launch between November 12 and 16, Hyderabad-based space startup Skyroot Aerospace announced.

• The maiden mission of Skyroot Aerospace, named ‘Prarambh’ (the beginning), will carry three customer payloads and is set for launch from Indian Space Research Organisation’s launchpad at Sriharikota.
• The launch mission will be a suborbital spaceflight.
• Among the three payloads is a 2.5kg satellite of another space startup, Space Kidz India, which has been built by students from India, the US and Indonesia.
• Skyroot, a two-time national award winner, is the first start-up to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ISRO in this regard.

Vikram-S rocket

• The Vikram series, named after the founder of India’s space programme Dr Vikram Sarabhai, are all-carbon-fibre structures that can launch up to 800 kg of payloads to the Low Earth Orbit.
• The Vikram-S rocket is a single-stage sub-orbital launch vehicle which would carry three customer payloads and help test and validate the majority of the technologies in the Vikram series of space launch vehicles.

Suborbital spaceflight:

• A suborbital spaceflight refers to a height of around 100km from the Earth’s surface, and is done at a lower altitude than an orbital flight, which reaches at least a low-Earth orbit — between around 200km to 2,000km from Earth.
• Suborbital flights are known to be important for conducting tests of space missions, before final commercial missions take place.

New era for Indian space sector

• With this mission, Skyroot Aerospace is set to become the first private space company in India to launch a rocket into space, heralding a new era for the space sector which was opened up in 2020 to facilitate private sector participation.

Must Read: Privatisation of Space Sector + Role of private sector in Space

Source: The Hindu

Previous Year Question

Q.1) With reference to India’s satellite launch  vehicles, consider the following statements: (2018)

1. PSLVs launch the satellites useful for Earth resources monitoring whereas GSLVs are designed mainly to launch communication satellites.
2. Satellites launched by PSLV appear to remain permanently fixed in the same position in the sky, as viewed from a particular location on Earth.
3. GSLV Mk III is a four-staged launch l vehicle with the first and third stages l using solid rocket motors; and the second and fourth stages using liquid rocket engines.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct.?

1. 1 only
2. 2 and 3
3. 1 and 2
4. 3 only