A diamond jewelry piece fixed to an aluminium plate and a small sculpture shaped like a rocket made from 18K gold are among the items set to fly on India’s first private orbital rocket, Vikram-1. The launch is planned between July 12 and August 4. Skyroot Aerospace stated on July 6 that the vehicle will carry six payloads. These include technology demonstration items from Graaha Space, Dcubed, Skyroot’s SCOPE, Cosmos Diamonds’ Cosmic Bloom, and the Embrace payload from Cosmoserve Space. A robotic arm will stay attached to the payload deck during its test. Two additional payloads highlight creativity and scientific heritage. Cosmic Bloom features the diamond jewelry on an aluminium plate. Microart, created by Ajay Kumar Mattewada, consists of an 18K gold rocket containing tiny sculptures of Sir C.V. Raman, Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, and Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, each smaller than a grain of rice. The work honors three pioneers who advanced India’s science and space efforts. One international payload, uD3PP and mD3RN from Dcubed GmbH in Germany, is also included. Ramesh Kumar V., co-founder and CEO of Grahaa Space, noted that missions like Vikram-1 open doors for new space firms. Dr. Chiranjeevi Phanindra, founder and CEO of Cosmoserve Space, said the flight allowed rapid testing of soft-robotic capture technology developed in four months.
