Hyderabad: In a first-ever, a Hyderabad-based aerospace company is all set to launch its first rocket by the end of 2021. The company’s launch vehicle ‘Vikram-I’, which is under construction in partnership with Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), is ready for space launch by this year-end.
Vikram-I’s launch is one of the first efforts of the country to put commercial satellites into space.
Pawan Kumar Chandana, co-founder & CEO of Skyroot Aerospace said, “This year, we have three full rocket stage tests. They will be done at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) facilities one every 2-3 months before we go for a launch by end of the year.”
Skyroot has created about 100 direct and indirect jobs so far and may create thousands of jobs in the future, Naga Bharath Daka, the company’s co-founder told Telangana Today.
Skyroot, which manufactures small satellite launch vehicles (SSLVs), is one of nine ground-breaking startups and the only space startup in the country under a five-year Startup India initiative to be chosen to interact with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Skyroot has successfully test-fired two rocket engines—Raman Engine in August 2020, named as a tribute to Indian-origin physicist and Nobel laureate CV Raman and a solid propulsion rocket stage, Kalam-5, named after India’s missile man and former President APJ Abdul Kalam.
It has also successfully demonstrated all propulsion technologies in the Vikram-I launch vehicle.
The start-up founded by Pawan Kumar Chandana and Naga Bharath Daka—both former ISRO scientists, is manufacturing three types of launch vehicles, Vikram-I, Vikram-II and Vikram III.