Latest news with #Kalam-1200
The Hindu
2 days ago
- Science
- The Hindu
Skyroot test fires India's largest privately developed rocket stage ahead of maiden flight of Vikram-1
Hyderabad-based space start up firm Skyroot Aerospace has announced that it had successfully static test fired the rocket's stage 1 carbon composite solid fuel booster stage for the country's first privately developed orbital launch vehicle, Vikram-1, ahead of its maiden flight, at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR in Sriharikota. The static test, conducted at the spaceport under the aegis of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), validated the performance of the 30-tonne booster stage of Skyroot's Vikram-1, which is targeted for its maiden flight later this year, said an official release on Friday night. Named 'Kalam-1200', after former President and rocket scientist APJ Abdul Kalam, the rocket stage is the largest monolithic solid rocket motor developed in India's space sector. At a length of 11 metres, it can generate nearly 1200 kN of peak vacuum thrust, nearly 10 times as much as that of an engine on a Boeing 737 Max. The casting of Kalam-1200 — a complex process of pouring and shaping the bespoke solid fuel propellant inside the carbon composite casing — was accomplished by ISRO's SDSC-SHAR. The static test validated the ballistic performance, burn rate, and thermal protection system of the motor, among other parameters, as well as the composite flex nozzle system. The flex nozzle system is a steering mechanism for the rocket, controlled by Vikram-1's Mission Computer — the onboard command and control computer that runs the algorithm guiding the rocket autonomously from the launchpad to orbit. The rocket stage was fired for around 110 seconds and generated the desired thrust within the estimated lower and upper bounds throughout its burn time. During flight, Kalam-1200 will lift Vikram-1 from the launch pad to an altitude of over 50 km, before a precise and advanced pneumatic system enables seamless stage separation, paving the way for the upper stages of the rocket to continue its flight to Earth's orbit. 'Witnessing Kalam-1200 roar to life at the test stand was an exhilarating yet humbling experience. It is the culmination of years of hard engineering by the young team at Skyroot,' said co-founder and CEO Pawan Kumar Chandana. 'It validates the entire stage as an integrated system — from propulsion performance and flex-nozzle actuation to thermal protection and structural integrity,' pointed out co-founder and COO Naga Bharath Daka. IN-Space chairman Pawan Goenka congratulated Skyroot for 'this landmark achievement' said it 'readies Skyroot to create history with the orbital launch.' Vikram-1 launch vehicle, designed and developed by Skyroot, is poised to be the first privately developed rocket to reach the orbit in the country. The launch vehicle will provide on-demand and customised launches for global small satellite operators — both in India and the world, added the release.
Time of India
3 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Hyderabad-based Skyroot successfully tests largest private rocket stage, readies Vikram-1 for first orbital launch
Hyderabad-based Skyroot Aerospace on Friday successfully test fired Kalam-1200 , the first-stage solid booster of its Vikram-1 rocket, at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC-SHAR) in Sriharikota , taking a major step towards the rocket's maiden orbital launch later this year. The 30-tonne carbon composite motor, developed with support from ISRO is named after former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. It is the largest solid rocket stage ever built by India's private sector. At 11 metres long, it can generate nearly 1,200 kN of peak thrust in a vacuum, about 10 times the power of a Boeing 737 Max engine. The latest test ran for about 110 seconds, with the booster delivering thrust within expected limits throughout the burn, the startup said. Pawan Kumar Chandana, cofounder and CEO, Skyroot Aerospace, said,'Witnessing Kalam-1200 roar to life at the test stand was an exhilarating yet humbling experience. It is the culmination of years of hard engineering by the young team at Skyroot.' Engineers also validated its ballistic performance, burn rate, thermal protection system, and flex-nozzle steering mechanism which will guides the rocket's trajectory in flight. During the launch, Kalam-1200 will lift Vikram-1 to an altitude of over 50 km before the upper stages take over to place satellites in orbit . The solid propellant casting for the motor was done at ISRO's SDSC-SHAR facilities. Space regulator and promoter IN-SPACe chairman Pawan Goenka congratulated the team on X, calling the milestone 'a landmark achievement.' Founded in 2018 by former ISRO engineers, Hyderabad-based Skyroot is developing its Vikram-series rockets to offer on-demand, customised launches for small satellites. It has since raised about $100 million from investors including GIC and Temasek. The Vikram-1 launch, expected later this year, will be a landmark moment, making Skyroot the first Indian startup to put a privately built rocket into orbit.
Time of India
20-05-2025
- Automotive
- Time of India
Skyroot successfully tests stage separation system for Vikram-1 rocket
Hyderabad: As spacetech startup Skyroot Aerospace gears up for the launch of India's first privately built orbital rocket , Vikram-1, into low Earth orbit (LEO) later this year, the company achieved yet another milestone. It successfully tested the stage separation system of the rocket. As part of this, the Hyderabad-based startup tested the separation of stage 2 of the rocket from stage 3. "Clean separation, smooth execution! Our team just nailed the stage separation test of Vikram-1. The ultra-low shock pneumatic separation system we developed in-house worked like a charm, smoothly separating Stage 2 from Stage 3 – in another boost to our journey to orbit!" Skyroot Aerospace said on social media platform X. "Imagine separating two rocket stages in space within a few milliseconds – without generating a shock – pulling them apart by 1.2 metres with just a few cms of clearance between the nozzle and internal fuel tanks and propelling the separating stage with enough energy to reach the required jettisoning velocity within 0.2 seconds. This is what it takes to separate rocket stages in the deep vacuum of space – and we've now qualified our proprietary stage separation and jettisoning system for flight. Another critical milestone on the path to the launch of Vikram-1," Pawan Kumar Chandana, Co-founder & CEO, Skyroot Aerospace, announced on X. The latest test is part of the battery of tests conducted by Skyroot over the past couple of months in preparation for the launch of Vikram-1 later this year. These include the structural rigidity test of Kalam-1200, the carbon composite stage-1 motor that is touted as the longest monolithic motor casing developed in India using Skyroot's proprietary filament winding process. Kalam-1200 will propel Vikram-1 from the ground through the Earth's atmosphere. The startup also tested Raman 50N mini thrusters that will be integrated into Vikram-1's orbital adjustment module and provide pitch and yaw control during flight. Earlier in May this year, Skyroot also qualified Vikram-1's interstages, which are four load-bearing structures that will house the avionics, separation systems, and critical sensors and will play a key role in maintaining the structural integrity of the rocket throughout its ascent into orbit. In April this year, Skyroot also ran pre-flight tests on the mission computer of the launch vehicle as well as the composite nozzle and flex nozzle control system of Kalam-1200, the first stage of the rocket.
