SPACE TREK

AFTER REPORTING SEVERAL SUCCESSES IN 2022, THE INDIAN SPACETECH SECTOR IS LOOKING AT ENTERING ITS NEXT PHASE OF GROWTH

- MANISH PANT

As Skyroot aerospace’s diminutive 546 kg, 8-metre tall sub-orbital launch vehicle, Vikram-S, zoomed towards the exosphere on November 18, a round of applause erupted in the sounding rocket complex at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota. Elsewhere in India, the founders of more than 100 spacetech start-ups watching the event also celebrated the launch of the country’s first privately-built rocket.

Within a week of the launch, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully deployed Anand and Thybolt 1 & 2—satellites of spacetech start-ups Pixxel and Dhruva Space, respectively—in space.

The blistering pace of launches for Indian spacetech start-ups was set on July 18 when high-end tech payloads of Bengaluru-based Digantara Research & Technologies and Hyderabad-based Dhruva were successfully launched from SDSC. Meanwhile, Skyroot is preparing to put its first orbital satellite launch vehicle, Vikram-1, into space within a year. “It will launch multiple satellites,” says Pawan Kumar Chandana, Cofounder & CEO of Skyroot. “Over 50 per cent of the payload capacity is already booked,” adds Naga Bharath Daka, Co-founder & CTO.