Skyroot Achieves Breakthrough as Vikram-1 Reaches Orbit with Six Satellites, Putting India Among Global Leaders (Image Courtesy: Facebook)
New Delhi: India's private space sector on Saturday achieved an achievement which gave a new direction to the country's space sector. Hyderabad-based private company Skyroot Aerospace's first orbital rocket 'Vikram-1' was successfully launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. With this, India has joined the list of select countries where a private company has successfully sent a rocket to low Earth orbit.
The beginning of the mission was not entirely easy. The flight had to be aborted due to a technical problem encountered minutes before the scheduled launch. This sudden interruption increased the concern of the scientists and engineers present in the mission control centre. Technical checks and necessary improvements were made for about 35 minutes. After this, at 12:05 pm, Vikram-1 took off successfully from the launch pad and started its journey towards space.
Skyroot Aerospace named its first orbital mission as 'Mission Arrival'. The most important objective of this mission was to prove the technical capability of the rocket and to deliver the payload sent with it to the designated orbit.
The rocket successfully placed the six satellites carried with it in the designated orbit at an altitude of about 450 kilometres above the Earth. With this, all the major objectives of the mission were accomplished.
It is considered extremely difficult to achieve orbital success in space missions in the very first flight. Most of the private companies in the world have faced many failed attempts to reach this point.
In such a situation, Skyroot Aerospace has demonstrated its technical capability at the global level by achieving success in its very first orbital launch. This achievement makes the company among the few private space companies in the world which have achieved this feat on the first attempt.
With this launch, India's private space industry has got a new identity. Till now, the responsibility of developing rockets in the country and sending them into space mainly rested with ISRO. But now private companies have also started taking strong participation in this sector.
After this achievement, India has become the third country in the world after America and China, where a private company has successfully launched an orbital rocket. Experts believe that this will create new opportunities for space technology, investment and employment in the country.
This achievement is also special because about 46 years ago, on July 18, 1980, ISRO had launched an Indian satellite into space for the first time through the SLV-3 rocket. Interestingly, like that historical rocket, the height of Vikram-1 is also about 22 metres.
Although the objectives and timing of the two missions are different, the success of Vikram-1 indicates that India's space programme has moved beyond a government agency and into a new era of private sector involvement.
The successful flight of Vikram-1 is not just a rocket launch but is also being considered as a new beginning for India's private space industry. In the coming years, many startup companies of the country are preparing to launch small and big satellites, space services and increase their share in the global launch market. In such a situation, this mission can prove to be an important step towards making India a strong player in the global space economy.
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