India launches its first domestically built space rocket
The Hyderabad-based startup, Skyroot Aerospace, successfully launches India’s first domestically developed rocket Vikram-S.
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First privately built Indian space rocket launches (AFP)
In a significant step toward India's goal of becoming a major space power, the nation's first privately developed rocket was launched into the upper atmosphere on Friday.
Live video from the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) showed the half-ton Vikram-S rocket launching before noon local time and traveling in an arc. Six minutes later, it safely splashed into the water, according to the agency.
The rocket, created by local startup Skyroot Aerospace, ascended to an altitude of 90 km (55 mi), which is less than the 100 km Karman line, which is considered to be the boundary between Earth and space.
"It is indeed a new beginning, a new dawn... in the journey of India's space program," science minister Jitendra Singh said after the launch to a crowd of cheering technicians at the ISRO's launch facility on the southern island of Sriharikota.
⚡️🚀 #India launches its first privately developed rocket Vikram-S
— Koustuv 🇮🇳 🧭 (@srdmk01) November 18, 2022
Check out footage of the launch of the Vikram-S rocket from the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)'s launchpad at Andhra Pradesh state's Sriharikota island on Friday pic.twitter.com/sV6Izqr3FZ
The single-stage, solid-fuel rocket was built with "carbon composite structures and 3D-printed components," the government said Thursday ahead of the first Vikram-S mission, named "Prarambh" ("Start").
In recent years, India has strengthened its space program, and a crewed mission with Russian support is planned for 2023 or 2024.
Success with its rockets and missions outside of Earth serves as a testament to India's expanding capabilities and goals.
With the help of its Mangalyaan orbiter, India became the first Asian country to reach Mars in 2014. That mission, praised for its low cost, placed India in a select group with the United States, Russia, and the European Union. And in 2019, after India shot down a low-orbiting satellite, drawing criticism for the amount of "space junk" it produced, Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised India as a "space superpower".
According to experts, India can keep costs down by utilizing and adapting current space technology, as well as by employing a large number of highly skilled engineers who make a small fraction of what their foreign counterparts do.
