Skyroot Aerospace, based in Hyderabad, launched Vikram-1 on Saturday from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. The flight, called ‘Aagaman’, marked the debut of India’s first privately developed orbital-class rocket. The launch, originally set for 11:30 AM, was delayed to 12:05 PM. Pre-flight checks and morning weather were cleared, though the automatic sequence paused at T-4:59 minutes as planned. The test flight seeks to verify Vikram-1’s performance and gather data for future missions. The effort follows Skyroot’s 2022 suborbital launch of Vikram-S. Vikram-1 stands 24 metres tall with three stages and can deliver up to 350 kg to a 450 km low-Earth orbit. It also carries an orbital adjustment module for precise satellite placement. The rocket uses an all-carbon composite structure and in-house technologies such as 3D-printed engines and a pneumatic separation system. Skyroot was founded in 2018 by former ISRO engineers Pawan Kumar Chandana and Naga Bharath Daka. The mission carries payloads including a lab-grown diamond from Cosmos Diamonds, a micro-art item, and postcards, along with technology demonstrators from several firms.
