Skyroot Aerospace - Vikram
Vikram, named after Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, the father of Indian Space Program, is a series of launch vehicles especially crafted for the small satellite market. Built on common architecture and covering a wide range of payloads, they offer the most affordable and on demand ride to space. Skyroot’s rocket is a three-stage rocket. Like any other vehicle, launch vehicles have propulsion systems and each stage of a rocket has its own propulsion. The startup uses solid propulsion for the first two stages, and liquid propulsion for the upper stage. Skyroot created its solid rocket stage using a carbon composite structure whose manufacturing process is entirely automated, the company says. That allows it to realize weight savings of up to five times versus use of steel, a material typically used to house solid rocket propellant stages. The uppermost stage of the vehicle can restart frequently. This will help insert multiple payloads in different orbits on a single mission.
Skyroot Aerospace, a Hyderabad-based startup backed by Curefit founders Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori, is developing a rocket which can be assembled and launched in a day that will be used to hurl small satellites into space, eyeing a slice of the global market for tiny satellite launches that is expected to grow over the next decade. Skyroot was founded by former Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) scientists Pawan Kumar Chandana, Naga Bharath Daka and Vasudevan Gnanagandhi.
Rocket launch startup Skyroot closed out 2020 with a key milestone in the development program for their Vikram-I launch vehicle: A successful test firing of a solid rocket propulsion stage that serves as a demonstrator of the same tech to be used in the production Vikram. This is the first time that a private Indian company has designed, built and tested a solid rocket propulsion stage in its entirety, and follows a successful engine burn test of an upper-stage prototype earlier in the year.
India has been a proud Space-faring nation for over five decades, thanks to the great visionary Dr. Vikram Sarabhai. From launching little sounding rockets from the shores of Thumba, India has been growing leaps and bounds through Chandrayaan, Mangalyaan and now Gaganyaan, proving sky is no limit to aspirations. However, with all this expertise, infrastructure, political support, and public’s adulation, our share is surprisingly low in the commercial space market and India hardly has an ecosystem of homegrown OEM’s and system architects.
Dynamics in the international space sector has changed (for better) with the advent of many new private companies entering this space. They are building up on the already available infrastructure and expertise to meet their commercial and exploratory goals. That’s a welcome change being recognized by the governments who are utilizing this ecosystem as a catalyst to their nationalistic dreams. Ecosystems built by NASA has proven to be long term winner and seen in success in the likes of SpaceX and others. China, US, & Europe strategically fund the companies and share assets for a greater good of the nation. China’s aim to be the space superpower is evident with a record 39 launches in 2018, surpassing the usually unbeatable US. Today a private company launching satellites from midland China from a government launch pad is a reality.
Skyroot is building a culture around rapid development of complex aerospace systems with lean use of resources. Skyroot is building the first private Indian launch vehicle to put a satellite in orbit and marching ahead to compete for a reasonable share in the international small satellite launch market which is estimated to be $16Bn in the next decade. hiCompleting seven months of advanced development, Skyroot is building an ecosystem of quick development of aerospace systems in speeds never imagined before. The idea of Skyroot was born from the need of having an internationally competent company with the capability of complementing ISRO’s capacity to meet the nations Space aspirations.
Pawan Kumar Chandana led Skyroot Aerospace that builds space rockets, a first for a privately held company in India. The company initially planned to launch its first rocket in 2021 to put commercial satellites into space. Pawan Kumar, who worked as a systems engineer in the ISRO, co-founded Skyroot with former ISRO colleagues and is the company’s CEO. The co-founders of CureFit Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori, who invested Rs 10.3 crore as seed fund in June 2018. The firm raised $6 million in 2020. Pawan Kumar said: “We are developing rockets that will put commercial satellites into space, which is a multi-billion opportunity. In the next 12-18 months, we will be testing our sub-systems. Once this is done, by the end of 2021, we expect the commercial launch of the rockets. Half of our work happens in Telangana and the other in Maharashtra.” Currently, the company is getting the production done at our vendor sites and will soon have an assembly facility near Hyderabad."
Once Skyroot Aerospace proves the success of the Vikram launch vehicles, it plans to design a larger reusable launch vehicle that would carry geostationary satellites to geostationary orbit.
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| Vikram I | Vikram II | Vikram III | |
| PAYLOAD |
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| ARCHITECTURE |
| Advanced Cryogenic Methalox engine replaces third stage of Vikram 1. | An Upgrade to Vikram 2 With Additional low cost Strapped on Solid Rocket Boosters |
| FLEXIBLE | Orbital Adjustment Module with re-start capability enables multi-orbit insertions. | Upper stage cryo-engine with re-start capability enables multi-orbit insertions. | Upper stage engine with re-start capability enables multi-orbit insertions. |
| ECONOMIC | Lowest cost in the payload segment | Lowest cost in the payload segment | Lowest cost in the payload segment |
| RESPONSIVE | Requires Minimal range infrastructure. Can be assembled and launched within 24 hours from any launch site. | Requires Minimal range infrastructure. Can be assembled and launched within 72 hours from any launch site. | Requires Minimal range infrastructure. Can be assembled and launched within 72 hours from any launch site. |
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