India becomes third country with private orbital launch as Skyroot's Vikram-1 reaches orbit
Skyroot Aerospace launched its Vikram-1 rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on July 18, making India the third country with a private orbital launch capability after the US and China. The rocket deployed customer payloads in a 450 km orbit within 17 minutes,
Skyroot Aerospace launched its Vikram-1 rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on the Indian barrier island of Sriharikota on July 18, making India the third country with a private orbital launch capability after the US and China. The four-stage rocket, about seven stories tall, can carry roughly 350 kilograms to low Earth orbit. On its debut mission, called Aagaman, it deployed payloads in a 450 kilometer orbit within 17 minutes of liftoff, including a technology demonstration from German company DCUBED, a nanosatellite from Indian startup Grahaa Space and a robotic arm from Cosmoserve Space designed to capture space debris. Mission control declared the flight a grand success. Source: Skyroot Aerospace, Space.com, CNBC