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UPSC INDIA’S FIRST PRIVATE LAUNCH VEHICLE - English

INDIA’S FIRST PRIVATE LAUNCH VEHICLE

Why in News?

Space technology startup Skyroot Aerospace is set to make history by sending India’s first privately developed rocket Vikram-S into space between 12th and 16th November, 2022 under the ‘Prarambh’ Mission.

• Skyroot Aerospace is an Indian startup in the aerospace business.

• The Vikram-S rocket is a single-stage sub-orbital launch vehicle which would carry three customer payloads.
• Sub-orbital flight are those vehicles which are travelling slower than the orbital velocity – meaning it is fast enough to reach outer space but not fast enough to stay in an orbit around the Earth.
• It would help test and validate the majority of the technologies in the Vikram series of space launch vehicles.
• Skyroot has been working on three different Vikram rocket versions.
• The Vikram-I can launch with 480 kilograms of payload, whereas the Vikram-II is designed to do so with 595 kilos and Vikram-III has a 500 km Low Inclination Orbit launch capability with 815 kg.

Prarambh Mission

• The Prarambh mission is aimed at carrying three payloads into space, including a 2.5-kilogram payload that has been developed by students from several countries.
• The Prarambh mission and the Vikram-S rocket were developed by the Hyderabad-based startup with extensive support from Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and IN-SPACe (Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre).

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