India has become the third in the world, after the United States and China, to successfully launch an orbital rocket developed by private corporations.
According to Reuters and others on the 19th (local time), Indian aerospace startup Skyroot Aerospace said the previous day it launched the orbital rocket "Vikram-1" and successfully placed it in a 450-kilometer orbit.
Vikram-1 was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, in southeastern India. Vikram-1 was originally scheduled to lift off at 11:30 a.m. local time the previous day in India, but was delayed by about 35 minutes. The 22-meter-long Vikram-1 is designed to carry payloads of up to 350 kilograms into low Earth orbit.
Skyroot said, "The purpose of this launch is to validate in-flight rocket propulsion systems, avionics, navigation and control systems, and to collect data for future commercial launches," adding, "Although this was a test flight, the mission was a resounding success." It added, "We plan to conduct several more test flights before full-scale commercial flights." Skyroot plans to launch Vikram-2 in 2027, capable of placing up to 1,000 kilograms of cargo into low Earth orbit, and to pursue development of reusable rockets.
Indian Space Association (ISpA) Secretary-General Bhatt said, "By carrying out India's first fully private orbital flight, Skyroot has demonstrated that the domestic industry has the capability to independently execute the entire spectrum of space missions."
India Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Skyroot directly to congratulate the company on the rocket launch. Skyroot was founded in 2018 by former engineers from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It has about 900 employees, with an average age of 28. In May, it raised $60 million (about 8.94 billion won) from Singapore sovereign wealth funds including GIC, valuing the corporations at $1.1 billion (about 1.64 trillion won) at the time.
In 2020, India opened its space sector by allowing private corporations to engage in rocket and satellite manufacturing and space launch services previously handled by the government's Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). India's private space industry development is expected to accelerate. In 2023, India became the first in the world to land the unmanned lunar probe "Chandrayaan-3" at the moon's south pole. In 2014, India became the fourth in the world, after the United States, the European Union (EU) and Russia, to successfully send a spacecraft to Mars.