Advertisment

India's homegrown spacetech startup Skyroot Aerospace successfully tests upper-stage rocket engine

Skyroot founder Chandana says that their 3D-printed rocket engine is named Raman after the most famous Indian scientist Dr. C V Raman.

author-image
VoicenData Bureau
New Update
Explaining about the engine, Skyroot founder Chandana says that their 3D-printed rocket engine is named Raman after the most famous Indian scientist Dr. C V Raman.

A few days back, an Indian startup company exhibited an extraordinary fete by successfully testing an upper-stage rocket engine in outer space.

Advertisment

Hyderabad-based startup company Skyroot Aerospace successfully tested this upper-stage rocket engine. Notably, Skyroot is the first Indian private company to build a domestic rocket engine.

Skyroot is founded by Pawan Kumar Chandana and Naga Bharath Daka, both former scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Also, Skyroot is backed by Curefit Founders Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori.

Explaining about the engine, Skyroot founder Chandana says that their 3D-printed rocket engine is named Raman after the most famous Indian scientist Dr. C V Raman. The engine, according to Chandana, is capable of multiple restarts, enabling the launch vehicle to insert various satellites into multiple orbits in a single mission. Four Raman engines with multi-start capability produce a thrust of 3.4kN and inserts multiple satellites into orbit.

Advertisment

Ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Indian Space Research Organization took the decision of opening up the space sector for private participation, startups in space-tech, such as Skyroot, are progressing with their indigenous capabilities. Apparently, the regulatory barriers earlier present have now reduced paving the way for Indian startups in space technology to bring innovative and homegrown space-tech products to the fore.

Skyroot, presently, manufactures three types of launch vehicles, Vikram-1, Vikram-2, and Vikram 3. The startup is currently focused on developing its very first launch vehicle, the “Vikram-I,” which is in the process of being manufactured and is on track for its first launch sometime around December 2021. The test-fire of the upper-stage engine, that took place a few days back, is an important step in validating this key component, which will handle the final insertion of any payload satellites into their target orbit once Vikram-I is operational.

Tweeting about this extraordinary fete, the founders quoted, “No better day than Dr. Vikram Sarabhai’s birthday to announce successful test firing of our Vikram-1 launch vehicle upper state engine Raman. Four engines with multi-start capability produce a thrust of 3.4kN and insert multiple satellites into orbit.”

Advertisment

Skyroot, so far, has raised $4.3 million, including from space and defense contractor Solar Industries, and is looking forward to securing another $15 million by 2021.

In the next six months, Skyroot plans to test-fire two full stages of its rocket under development and simultaneously work on its Vikram-2 and Vikram-3, which are the next-generation launch vehicles that are set to follow in terms of availability sometime around 2022-2023.

(Pic Source: Representative Image taken from Skyroot Aerospace's Twitter handle)

Advertisment