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The Hindu
3 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
4 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.
Mint
5 days ago
- Business
- Mint
Indian space startups have run into a talent hurdle
New Delhi: India's private space startups are finding it hard to get top-notch talent as there aren't enough graduates trained in niche topics and specialized skills. And even the small number of candidates available prefer companies overseas because of low salaries back home. While companies are increasing their average pay and also training employees, niche talent in rocketry, propulsion technologies, photonics and sensors—the differentiating factors among space startups—is in short supply, according to founders, analysts and industry observers that Mint spoke with. Around 175 institutions in India offer undergraduate degrees in aerospace engineering, while 75 offer postgraduate courses, according toMint's analysis of five educational services platforms. Around 8,000 aerospace engineers graduated last year, accounting for just 0.5% of the 1.5 million engineers who pass out of Indian colleges annually. That includes the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST), which is affiliated with the Union government's Department of Space. Chicken and egg situation But it's more like a chicken-and-egg situation: while there are few qualified candidates, the salaries also aren't good enough to encourage students to select such courses. While none of the startups disclosed their salary offers, citing confidentiality and competition, Mint found that freshers, working on low-value software engineering or satellite assembly projects, are offered packages as low as ₹3 million a year, and those with two-three years of experience get up to ₹6 million per annum. Such roles, however, are in tens and not even hundreds across India's 200-odd space startups. Companies say finding the right engineer is rare, while candidates blame a lack of jobs. 'About 30% of our hires are freshers directly out of colleges, but we recruit the rest from various industries such as automobiles," said Pawan Kumar Chandana, cofounder and chief executive of Hyderabad-headquartered Skyroot Aerospace. 'For most engineers that we hire, we've set up skilling and training programmes, and it takes about six months to a year for them to get ready to work on various projects." According to Anirudh Sharma, cofounder and chief executive of Bengaluru-based Digantara Research and Technologies, India doesn't have enough formal university courses or research programmes in skills such as photonics and optical engineering. 'For instance, National Institute of Technology, Warangal (in Telangana) ran about five batches and produced some of the best optical communications engineers in the country—but they are a finite pool, out of which some are employed across industries and others have moved abroad," he said. In most cases, startups like Bengaluru-based Bellatrix Aerospace hire from other engineering streams. 'For instance, we take recruits with chemical and metallurgical engineering backgrounds and train them to work on our proprietary rocket propulsion technology," said Yashas Karanam, co-founder and chief operating officer. Not many courses Specialized space courses are also rare. Towards the end of 2023, Pawan Goenka, chairman of government-affiliated Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (In-Space), had said that the agency is working with the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to introduce space curricula in engineering institutes. On 28 July, In-Space announced the introduction of a short-term skill development course for 'space technology in agriculture" with Amity University, Noida. However, it is only a certificate course and does not offer the kind of deep dive that would produce the niche skills that Chandana, Sharma and Karanam are looking for. Fewer jobs Industry stakeholders said the lack of adequate talent is also due to fewer job opportunities. The Indian space industry at the moment is 'not offering opportunities that go beyond the existing roles at the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro)", said Narayan Prasad Nagendra, chief operating officer of Netherlands-based space services marketplace SatSearch. 'Since a mass exodus to the IT (information technology) sector in the 1990s, Isro has steadied the ship—and now sees engineers sticking with it for a decade or more. In my conversations, engineers who gather such levels of experience only look for career opportunities outside in Europe or Japan," said Nagendra. 'Indian space firms are yet to offer perks and salaries that go beyond what Isro or private global firms do, which leads to top talent leaving the country beyond a point." According to Chaitanya Giri, a space fellow at the global think tank Observer Research Foundation, it is still early since the privatization of the space sector only took place three years ago. Giri said the sector will never see demand in thousands or millions, but only hundreds, and that too for core products and niche applications. 'Getting talent from other industries is only a stop-gap solution because automobiles and other core sectors can always have more room for growth," he said. 'What is needed now are niche specialization courses at top universities, and generous research budgets," Guri said. 'Until that happens, India's space industry will remain starved of the kind of talent that helped the US build the global majors we know today."
Economic Times
26-06-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
Axiom Space, Skyroot Aerospace ink MoU for space exploration, access to low-earth orbit
Fresh from the success of group captain Shubhanshu Shukla's spaceflight to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the Axiom-4 (Ax-4) mission's commercial spaceflight, Axiom Space signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Hyderabad-based Skyroot Aerospace to explore collaboration opportunities to advance space exploration and access to low-earth orbit (LEO). The Houston-based company, which launched its fourth private mission to the ISS on June 25, will explore utilising Skyroot's capabilities for research payloads, orbital data centre nodes, and other missions to Axiom Station and independently in LEO. 'Together, the two organisations are excited to collaborate in serving India and international markets,' they said in a joint statement. While Axiom plans to construct and operationalise its own Axiom Station LEO, the company is looking to develop a global supply chain and partner with startups. Skyroot is the first Indian startup to launch a rocket into space and has partnered with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). After launching its Vikram-S rocket, the startup is preparing to launch the Vikram-1 rocket, its maiden orbital-class launch vehicle. 'As we begin realising this vision with the upcoming maiden launch of Vikram-1, the partnership with Axiom Space builds an opportunity to explore integrated launch and orbital solutions that will shape humanity's future in space,' said Pawan Kumar Chandana, cofounder of Bhatia, CEO of Axiom Space, said that since the day he visited Skyroot's facility two years ago, he knew the two companies had to work together to define humanity's future in space. 'This collaboration further reinforces the growing cooperation between Axiom Space and the Indian space sector,' Axiom said in a statement.
Time of India
26-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Axiom Space, Skyroot Aerospace ink MoU for space exploration, access to low-earth orbit
Academy Empower your mind, elevate your skills Fresh from the success of group captain Shubhanshu Shukla's spaceflight to the International Space Station ( ISS ) as part of the Axiom-4 (Ax-4) mission's commercial spaceflight Axiom Space signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Hyderabad-based Skyroot Aerospace to explore collaboration opportunities to advance space exploration and access to low-earth orbit (LEO).The Houston-based company, which launched its fourth private mission to the ISS on June 25, will explore utilising Skyroot's capabilities for research payloads, orbital data centre nodes, and other missions to Axiom Station and independently in LEO.'Together, the two organisations are excited to collaborate in serving India and international markets,' they said in a joint Axiom plans to construct and operationalise its own Axiom Station LEO, the company is looking to develop a global supply chain and partner with startups. Skyroot is the first Indian startup to launch a rocket into space and has partnered with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). After launching its Vikram-S rocket, the startup is preparing to launch the Vikram-1 rocket, its maiden orbital-class launch vehicle.'As we begin realising this vision with the upcoming maiden launch of Vikram-1, the partnership with Axiom Space builds an opportunity to explore integrated launch and orbital solutions that will shape humanity's future in space,' said Pawan Kumar Chandana, cofounder of Bhatia, CEO of Axiom Space, said that since the day he visited Skyroot's facility two years ago, he knew the two companies had to work together to define humanity's future in space. 'This collaboration further reinforces the growing cooperation between Axiom Space and the Indian space sector,' Axiom said in a statement.
