SRIHARIKOTA: A sudden hold in the final five minutes of the countdown briefly froze the celebration waiting to erupt at Sriharikota. Then, after a tense 35-minute delay and a restart of the launch sequence, Skyroot Aerospace’s Vikram-1 roared off the first launchpad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre here at 12.05 pm Saturday, becoming India’s first privately developed orbital-class rocket to reach low Earth orbit.Skyroot Aerospace’s maiden orbital mission, named Mission Aagaman, not only successfully placed its six payloads into the targeted 450-km low Earth orbit at an inclination of 60 degrees, it made India the third country to achieve orbital launch capability through private enterprise. It was also a historic moment for the Hyderabad-based startup founded by former Isro scientists Pawan Kumar Chandana and Naga Bharath Daka.The company enters an ultra-exclusive club of public sector and private sector entities globally to get a rocket launch right in the first attempt.Also read – I was discouraged from taking bold decision to privatise space sector, today you proved me right: PM Modi to Skyroot after Vikram-1 successful launchFor India, the launch represents a major step in the transition from a govt-led space programme to a broader ecosystem in which private companies design, build and operate launch vehicles. The milestone has come exactly 46 years after Isro’s SLV-3E2 placed the Rohini satellite RS-1 into orbit on July 18, 1980, making India the sixth nation capable of independently launching satellites.Like SLV-3, Vikram-1 stands 22m tall, but its success signals a new era: the arrival of private Indian industry in orbital launch operations from Sriharikota. For Chandana, company co-founder, the launch was an emotional milestone. “In the first attempt, reaching orbit, I never thought it was possible. The Skyroot team made it possible,” he said.Also read – Skyroot’s orbital launch: India’s own SpaceX is born, startup to give country another option to Isro for satellite launches
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