Solar, Skyroot plan 100km launch of Vikram-1 orbital vehicle in Oct

Nagpur: Hyderabad-based start-up Skyroot Aerospace, and Nagpur’s Solar Group have successfully conducted the third stage static test fire of Vikram-1 rocket. This is the largest space launch vehicle being developed by an entity in India, outside of ISRO which is a government set-up. This test was a major achievement towards development of the orbital vehicle Vikram-1, said the companies.
The rocket has been made by Skyroot Aerospace with Solar Group providing the propellent, which is needed to carry it up. The testing was done at Solar’s facility in Nagpur.
After this, there are plans to carry out sub-orbital launch of the vehicle in October. In this, the rocket would be shot up to an altitude of 100km or more. This would be followed by lower earth orbit launch in March 2023, covering a vertical distance of 500km, said a source involved in the project.
The third stage test was done at a static test bed — a facility available with Solar Group. A static test is comparable to running on a treadmill, where a certain speed can be achieved against a measured distance without actually running as much, explained a source.
In this the rocket is tied to a test bed and fired with forces preventing it from taking off. However, the thrust created and other parameters can be measured creating a situation similar to an actual launch.
Solar Group has lately emerged as a major producer of defence explosives. It has long been an established player in commercial explosives business.
“This is the largest rocket stage ever designed and made by a private company. We are proud of being part of it, proving our capability to make large rocket motors as well as static testing at Nagpur,” said Manish Nuwal, managing director of Solar Industries. The group is also an investor in Skyroot.
Naga Bharat Daka, a co-founder of Skyroot, said it was the best in class rocket stage of this size.